Tales of Dilucia
by RaeMina
Summary: 20 years have past since the Blastia Purge, and man and the Spirits have lived in peace, using mana to fight against the threat of the monsters that roam the world. But the monsters that prowl in the hearts of men still lurk. Multi Ch Fansequel, OC Focus.
1. Important Notice!

Greetings! I'm RaeMina, and for you new guys that are intimidated on the long read, I have written a script summary of the first 5 chapters, hopefully filled with lulz! And if you like it, please pick up the reading from Chapter 6: One Thing After Another! Or you can even read everything, 'cause it's not a BAD read, just lengthy and I'm too lazy to edit it into cohesive chunks! :D

Thank you for checking out my fic! And enjoy your stay!

~Chapter 1!~

Wondertwins, Eli and Nora: Wow, Nordopolica is IMPRESSIVE!

Old Friend, Terrence: Go scamper, you little kids! I gotta do something with Alise

Wondertwins: Okay!

*They run off*

The Freelance Fighter, Alise Murain: What do you want with me?

Terrence: There's a package to deliver, and I need to find it, and talk to you about stuff.

Alise: 'Kay

Terrence: Why are the wondertwins with you? You usually travel alone, right?

Alise: Yes, but they wanted to fight the Giant Enemy Crab. I thought I could be useful in killing it.

Terrence: Sooooo a vendetta?

Alise: Why not?

*DING DONG, CUSTOMER FOR PICK-UP!*

Terrence: That must be Miss Sloan! She has a package from the the Magistrate of Heliord

Miss Anita Sloan: Gimme my package nao don't break it you swine.

Terrence: Can do!

*He does, and Miss Snooty runs off cradling the box like a CRAZEH person*

Alise: That was odd. G2G kill Giant Enemy Crab nao

Terrence: Say hi to Uncle Garrett for me!

Alise: Yeah, sure...

~MEANWHILE~

Anita Sloan: *opens the box* MAHGAWDHE'SBEAUTIFUUUUUUUL

~Chapter 2!~

Eli: NORDOPOLICA IS AWESOME!

Nora: Calm down, we have to find the Giant Enemy Crab

Alise: Yeah, so let's go.

*They do*

~In the Weasand of Cados~

Eli: BOY THIS PLACE IS CREEPY

Alise: Watch out, you'll slip-

*He does, slipping straight into the Giant Enemy Crab*

Eli: WAT

*They Fight against the Giant Enemy Crab*

Alise: Boy does fighting against a Giant Enemy Crab bring back memories

*Flashbacks hint that Alise's whole family was killed by the Giant Enemy Crab when she was just a wee baby*

Alise: Flashbacks suck ¬_¬ And we're losing, so we have to get away-

*BIG DAMN HERO Moment: A bunch of guys and their pet wolves kill the Giant Enemy Crab easily*

Alise: That was quick o_o Who are they?

~Chapter 3!~

Beast Master's Son, Lawrence Anders: We just saved your life from that Giant Enemy Crab! You're welcome!

Nora: You work with monsters, to kill monsters?

Lawrence: Not quite. We're a guild called Beast Legion! My father created this guild to prove that not all monsters are horrible, and we can live with them in piece always! ^_^

Eli: Then Y U kill Giant Enemy Crab?

Lawrence: Gigantos are very territorial, so if we can, we just distract the attacking monsters to keep them away from bystanders. Also we're investigating an increase in monsters attacks in this area. SAY, wanna come with us as we investigate to show you the WONDERS of the natural world?

Wondertwins: Sure, sounds fun!

Alise: 'Kay bai guise.

Eli: Y U NO Coming?

Alise: Job is done, and I have places to go. Have fun with that weird guy(That looks so familar to me somehow...)

Lawrence: You sure? You're missing oooooout~

Alise: I probably am.

*Beast Legion and Wondertwins leave for Mantaic, Alise heads back out of the Weasand od Cados*

Alise: Guess I should head back to Nordopolica. I haven't talked to my uncle since I left three years ago...

*Remembers why she left in the first place: to find her old friend...*

Alise: Still haven't found him either -_-

*A wild mugging appears*

? HOLY CRAP IM GONNA DIE

Thief 1: Don't make this hard, we only want your money~ ^^

Theif 2: Heeheeyeah, so give it, butt munch!

Alise: Hold this for me.

*Alise punches Theif 2 in face, and beats up the other one. The theives run, leaving Alise alone with their target*

The Nervous Squire, Gordon Brune: You saved me! Good thing too, they were about to steal Dawn's necklace! -o-;

Alise: Fascinating. *Starts to leave*

Gordon: Hey wait! You're going to Nordopolica? Let's go together soI don't get mugged again okay?

Alise: *SIGH* Sure.

*They go to Nordopolica, and are approached by a wild cameo*

Lieutenant Boccos: Gordon! We thought you were eaten or something and I thought I was gonna get fired D:

Gordon: I'm sorry Lieutenant ;_; At least I'm here, thanks to Alise. Think we can take her with us to Zaphias?

Alise: Wait what? *glare*

Gordon: I, eeeerrr, want you to meet my father, Lieutenant Brenton Brune, 'cause I'm sure he'd like to thank you for saving me ;

Alise: Weeeeelllllllllllllll I was gonna go see my Uncle for the first time in three years but I'm still awkward around him with all of my misplaced guilt so I'll go with you, I suppose..

Gordon: Oh good! Let's go then! Too bad I hate traveling by boat _

Alise: I get the strangest feeling this is gonna screw me up BIG time... ¬_¬

~Chapter 4!~

~On the Imperial ship at night~

Alise: The cool night breeze feels nice~

Captain Mordred: Hello there, I figured I should thank you for saving young Gordon.

Alise: He's lucky I just happened to pass by...

Mordred: Indeed, and I thank you.

Alise: Sure... (This guy's acting kind of awkward, like he's trying to get at something...)

Mordred: Not at all an awkward question, but is your last name Murain? Even though no one on this ship actually knows you're full name...

Alise: o_o Uhm. I'm going to bed...

*She does, and Mordred shrugs*

Mordred: I would suppose it is then? She looks so much like her father, too...

~The ship pulls into the Imperial Harbor, which is made form the remains of the old warship Heracles~

Gordon: My dad should be somewhere...! OMG IT'S DAWN o0o

The Brune's Maid, Dawn: Hey Gordy~! ^^ Welcome back to Illycia *Hugs Gordon*

Gordon: DOKI DOKI DOKI DOKI DOKI DOKI DOKI

Dawn: I came instead of you dad, since he had some business to take care of.

Gordon: *voice cracking* Oh that's fine _

Alise: *just shows up* Thanks for running off Gordon ¬_¬

Gordon: Sorry about that... But hey, we can go to Zaphias and wait for my dad there!

Dawn: *looks at Alise supiciously* Who's she? And why is she coming with us?

Gordon: I'll, er, tell you aloong the way...

*He does, finishing by the time they reach the Middle Quarter*

Dawn: You were attacked? I'm glad you're safe!

~Inside the Brune household at mid evening~

Dawn: I'll get your dad. You wait in the parlor with... that lady *dashes off*

Alise: (What am I even doing here? -_-)

Lieutenant Brenton Brune: *Enters* Hello, you're name is Alise? Dawn tells me you saved my son's life

Alise: Yeah (But now I'm kinda starting to regret it...)

Gordon: I am ashamed to have brought such danger upon myself ._.

Brune: I'd be more ashamed if you had died, if I were you...

Gordon: yessir ._.

Brune: As to thank you, Alise, I don't have much...

Alise: That's fine. I don't need much. Just to get moving...

Brune: Very well, I-

Gordon: NO WAIT I WANT TO GO TRAVEL WITH ALIIIISE! '^'

Alise: glaaaaaaaaaare

~Chapter 5!~

Gordon: I'm serious I think that if I go with Alise I'll be able to be less dependent! I woun't be able to respect myself

Alise: (So trying to be independent by following me around? Perfect -_-#)

Brune: Gordon, I think you're moving through this too fast.

Gordon: But if I don't push myself, I'll never be able to get the guts to enroll as a knight, like you! I'll never be able to find what I'm looking for!

Alise: ! (When I left home, it was to find Ray... Three years have passed, and I have yet to find him...) *Turns to leave*

Gordon: Wait, Alise! Please wait!

Alise: If you follow me, you'll never find what you're looking for...

Gordon: ...What?

*Without turning back, Alise leaves the parlor to find Dawn listening in*

Dawn: GLAAAAARE

Alise: I don't need this now -_- *Heads for the door*

Dawn: Just wait! Have you no heart? Gordon just stood up for himself! Can't you at least show some sympathy for him? Sure he's a little funny, but he'll never give up!

Alise: I know you're upset with me, but trust me, Gordon's better off just staying home.

*Alise leaves the house, on edge. She goes to the Lower Quarter for the inn, but ends up chillaxing by the fountain*

Kiddles: Heh! Tag, you're it! No, not fair! You didn't even touch me! Nah, I totally did!

?: Make way! Get the hell out of the way! :D

*The kiddles scatter, and two gruff men strut into the Quarter with two gnarly wolf monsters at their heels*

Alise: Are those members of Beast Legion...?

*The thugs walk up to a food stand, and start taking some food*

Shopkeeper: You have to pay-

Thug 1: Oh yeah that's a good idea, isn't it?

Thug 2: That would be a good idea...

Both: NOOOOT

*They throw the shopkeeper to the floor, laughing*

?: AZURE STORM!

*The thugs get their rumps handed to them by a man in black and a blue dog, and are soon apprehended by patroling knights*

Knight: At least he didn't kill them this time... *Carts them all off*

Alise: (There, see? I've been attracting a lot of trouble lately. Gordon should just stay home...) *Goes stays the night in the inn*

~That Night, in the Gordon's Bedroom~

Gordon: Why do I try? Why? Nothin' ever works out, why expect it to now? I should have just waited. I shouldn't have said anything. I was rushing, which was a stupid idea. I wouldn't even say 'Yes' to me! How could I expect Dad, or even Alise, to let me go? Dumb idea, horrible execution, terribl- ACK!

*Gordon, in his rantings, tripped over something HEAVY*

Gordon: OW OW OW OW WO OW! _ Good thing I taught myself some Healing Artes... *heals his injury* Better... At least I can do that...

Dawn: Knock knock, Gordy~ Are you okay? I thought I heard a thud...

Gordon: I'm okay... Come in, what is it?

Dawn: Well are you reaaaaaaally sure you want to leave again? You won't be with the knights this time...

Gordon: I know, but to be honest I feel stupid about the whole thing _ I wish I never brought Alise with me...

Dawn:...But do you still want to go? 'Cause I have a plan if you do

Gordon: O_O You're not serious?

Dawn: Of course I am~ I'll just make the Lieutenant think you're still upset by it and knowing him he'll let you alone until you "calm down" and show up on your own. Little would he know that you went off with that woman 3 and hopefully you'd be long gone by the time he notices!

Gordon: ...Why is it that you plan sounds like it would work _;

Dawn: Really, I just want you to be happy, okay? And if this is what you think you need, then I'm behind you all the way The only thing is I'll miss having you around...

Gordon: ...Wait, your necklace. I don't want to lose it, like I almost did.

Dawn: Naaah, keep it! All the better to remember who helped you take hold of you're life, right?

Gordon: Yeah... Yeah! Thanks so much, Dawn! I won't let you down!

~The Next Morning~

Alise: Why do I feel like I'm being followed...?

Gordon: HUFF HUFF Wait! *runs after her*

Alise: Gordon! You're not seriously following me?

Gordon: Not just following you *pulls out a bag o gald* I'm hiring you.

Alise:...Wow, are you sure this is what you want...?

*Alise takes the money*

Gordon: You mean...!

Alise: I've been hired, it's official. So let's keep moving, okay?

Gordon: Y-yes! o3o

*They Do*


	2. Chapter 1: Trigger of Fate

Welcome, welcome, to Tales of Dilucia! This is a Fansquel that takes place 20 years after the events of Tales of Vesperia. As such, spoilers ahoy.

And so you all know, Dilucia is the story of Alise Murain, a freelancer who works mostly as a bodyguard for those that need to cross through the monster infested world. As she travels, she unwillingly finds herself tangled in a web of events that she never wanted to take part in to begin with. At first she thinks that the monsters are all she has to worry about, but her reunion with an old friend, and old heroes, soon prove that there is more at stake.

DISCLAIMER: While there are plenty of original characters that I, RaeMina, have created, they all live in a copyrighted world and interact with characters copyrighted by Namco Bandai. I claim no ownership to the world or its characters.

Chapter 1: The Trigger of Fate

The sun held its place high above the city of Nordopolica. The city bustled with activity, which was usual as it was home to the world famous coliseum, which attracted a fair number of tourists. The roar from the crowd at the coliseum was intense, but it was just a gentle buzz to the small cargo ship pulling into the city's busy harbor. The ship's boarding ramp was set firm against the solid ground, and no sooner than it was set down that a young man came bounding down the ramp to take in the sights.

'Whoa!" The young man, Eli, cried out. "This place is huge up close!"

Nora, the same age as Eli, calmly followed after her twin brother. "Certainly impressive," came her quiet reply.

"Never left Illyccia, have ya?" The ship's captain, Terrence, called out to the brown haired siblings. "Whatchu see here is just the tip of the iceberg! You should see what we got goin' on the Coliseum."

"Oh man, this place looks AWESOME." Eli gushed. Remembering something, he turned back to the boat. "Hey, Aliiiiiise! Aren't you coming off that ship?"

Terrence, who had just finished securing the main sail, also turned to the stern to see the reaction of his other passenger. The tall, red clad young woman leaned against the ridge of the small ship, staring out toward the horizon. A breeze strong enough to catch Alise's red hip length braid pulled it in its path. No doubt she was purposefully not answering the boy. Terrence had known Alise since she was a little girl, being a friend of her uncle. He had known her to be quiet in a stubborn way, but nowadays he wasn't even sure she talked to anyone else besides him. At least he thought so before she came out of no where and invited the twins to come with her to the continent of Desier on his boat.

"Hey, kid," Terrence called out to Eli, "Why don't you and your sister go and take a little tourist walk around the city? I need Alise to help with the ship for a while."

Nora's quiet voice barely carried itself over the background noise of the coliseum. "You don't need us to help finish anything up?"

"Nah. You two just go and enjoy yourselves and Alise'll catch up with you when she's done." After the two had left, Terrence turned to give Alise on last look and then went to check on the ropes.

"Thanks for that..." came Alise's voice a few moments later.

"I shouldn't need to shoo them two off for ya. You were the one who said you'd get them a ride over here, and yet you haven't as much said a word to them this whole trip. And it's a long ways away from Torim to stay silent for."

"I'm sure I've taken longer vows of silence." Alise said dryly, still not moving from her position.

Terrence hrumphed as middle aged men seemed to do in response to a wry adolescent. Silence lasted for a short while longer, and Terrence went below deck to make sure he had the order for an Anita Sloan, who was due to pick up that day.

Alise sighed and called down to Terrence, "So do you really need me to do some work? Or were you really only covering for me?"

"Get yourself over here and find out."

Alise chuckled quietly. Guess I had it coming, she thought and left her spot to meet Terrence in the cargo hold. By the time she had made it down the steps Terrence had his back to her, cruched down and looking at various labeled crates "So then...?" Alise started.

"I need to find me a certain box. It's long, kinda fat, but it's not all the heavy. Should be somewhere down here..." Terrence straightened out his back and motioned to a separate pile of boxes on the otherside of the hold. "Check over there, would you?"

Alise set to work rummaging through the pile of boxes, which was no trouble considering she was well toned from working freelance with hunting monsters. She was only checking boxes for a moment when Terrence got to talking again.

"So, Alise, why exactly did you offer to bring those two along? It's seems a little off for you of all people to go through the trouble."

Alise was silent while she thought of an answer. "Well, you heard them talking on the way over. They wanted to go and hunt that Hermit Drill in the Weasand of Cados."

"Yeah, I got to talking with them about why they're trying to kill that monster. They said their grandfather was with that Emperor who tried to kill off all of them giganto monsters, and that since no one in their family really ever managed to do it, they wanted to finish the job. But that still doesn't say much about why you agreed because of that..."

"It's because they basically cornered me that I agreed to help them. They had the want, I had the way. Plus they offered me pay." Alise ignored Terrence's amused scoff, and let out a soft sigh before speaking again. "Besides... It's not like don't have a reason for wanting that Hermit Drill dead..."

The atmosphere in the hold grew dense. "I was actually trying not to bring that up, y'see..."

Quiet again.

Soon, Alise came across a box she thought could have been the one Terrence was looking for. It was fairly light, and it was about as long as her whole arm, about a hand span in width. "Hey, is this the one?" She held it up over her head, looking over her shoulder.

"Yeah, that should be it." Terrence got up and walked over and took it from Alise's hand for inspection, who also stood up. "Yup, an Anita Sloan from the Magistrate of Heliord. This's the one."

Nodding to each other that the work was done, the two left the cargo hold and went out onto the deck. A sidelong glance told Alise that Terrence was about to say something, but the roar from the coliseum's crowd rose in intensity again. This time a voice was audible over the crowd.

"Now that was a match, folks! Never in all of my years have I seen such raw power! This guy obviously knows what he's up against!"

With that Terrence laughed loudly, maybe in hopes that Alise might join in. "Good ol' Garrett! Always one to ham it up, especially if anyone's around to listen."

"That's true," Alise muttered under her breath. Garrett was Alise's uncle, and also the commentator for the matches in the coliseum. To think though, Alise thought, he could be doing something completely different if...

She shook her head lightly to stop that recurring thought. She looked for something to distract herself. A few docks away from Terrence's ship Alise noticed a decent sized Imperial Guardship. This surprised Alise, considering that even in her memory there weren't many times that the Empire made a show of coming to Nordopolica. Pallestralle usually handled any affairs on this side of the mountains.

"Ah, look. This must be our Anita now."

A skinny woman dresed in scholarly cloak came down the dock. Her black hair was in a small tight bun near the crown of her head, and half moon glasses framed her dark eyes. She walked as if she was in a hurry.

Terrence walked off the boarding ramp to meet the woman halfway. "Greetings to you, miss. You're Miss Anita Sloan, yes?"

The woman cocked her eyebrow at Terrence. "Yes, I am. You are the one with the package from the Magistrate of Heliord?" Alise gave this Sloan woman an interested look, not because she was really interested, but because she seemed like a quiet and proud woman. Whenever Alise found a woman such as this, she always wondered if she herself looked like that to other people.

"I certainly am," Terrence continued. "It has arrived safe and sound. Oi, Alise! Give Miss Sloan's package to me, will ya?"

Alise took up the box that Terrence had left onboard in her hands and tossed it down to him without much thought. He was caught off guard, but caught it nonetheless. Miss Sloan, however, panicked. Her strict countenance dropped, and her eyes widened and she gasped loudly. She wrenched the package from the man's hand with ease and turned her back on him, cradling the package as if it was her own baby thrown off the side of a boat.

Terrence was speechless. He looked from the woman to Alise, both looks were akin to 'The crap was that for?' "M-Miss Sloan! Are you alright? I'm terribly sorry if we've startled you." After bowing profusely, he gave Alise a look that demanded an apology for Miss Sloan.

The woman stared daggers at Terrence, and then fixed her stare on Alise. Alise only knitted her brow in response to the woman's death glare, but inside she was troubled by it. If looks could kill, then there would be an entire dock full of corpses.

"My deepest apologies." Alise gave a small nod in place of a more traditional bow.

"You should be..." The woman muttered. Without even a look back to Terrence, she strutted off with her precious package and disappeared into the crowd.

"Uh, Have a nice day!" Terrence called out after her. Immediately after wards he shot an accusatory look at Alise.

Alise shrugged it off and looked out to the ocean. "What?"

"You know what I mean! You really had to throw it? Whatever happened to walking down here and just handing it off to me!"

Alise shrugged dismissively and made her way down the boarding plank with her and the twin's belongings in tow, which they had somehow forgotten on deck. The bags dangled from her hands and she gave the man a small smile. "Well Terrence, thanks for the ride. If it makes you feel better, I can give you a cut of my pay for this job."

Terrence's face was still red as a beet, but Alise knew it was all just show and that he had calmed down. "Nah, keep your dirty money. Less to remind me of this incident." He chuckled and smiled. "It was good to see you again, Alise."

"You too, Terry." Alise slung her bag over her shoulder and kept Eli and Nora's things in her other hand. She wiggled her free fingers in a small wave, passed Terrence, and was off to find her employers.

Once a safe way out of the city, Anita Sloan couldn't help herself any longer. It was a long ways walk back to her lab, and the Imperial Guardship in the dock meant that the Knights were snooping about. She didn't need to attract their attention, especially now that it was here, right here, in her arms.

She sat herself down on a rock in an area clear of monsters and sat the box down on her lap. Anita hoped that the specimen was still in once piece, and that insufferable redhead hadn't damaged him. Not that a few bumps and bruises would ruin him, but she would have died to have seen him in his original form, to meet face to face with him. To share their hate...

Anita rested a hand on the crate's surface and trembled with anticipation. She let out a cleansing sigh, preparing for the moment, and slipped a dagger out of a sheath hidden in her boot. She wedged the blade in the box's lid and pryed it open.

She opened it slowly, to savor the sight of him. "Beautiful," she whispered in ecstasy.

Also, be the look out for skits, which will be archived under the story: "Skits of Dilucia." When I have a new batch ready, I'll post a link to it in that particular chapter. Hoped you enjoyed it, and please read more~

See you next chapter!

~RaeMina


	3. Chapter 2: Enter the Beast

Finally Ch. 2 =P This one is very long, 2344 words. I swear I'll keep 'em shorter next time. Plus I have those skits I promised, but I'll keep those and the occasional side story elsewhere, but it'll be easy to find. And soo...

Disclaimer: My own people, using Bamco's world. 'Nough said.

* * *

Chapter 2: Enter the Beast

"Nora, we can just sneak a peek!" Eli protested his sister's common sense. The two were standing outside of the huge double doors that led to the lobby of the coliseum, the cheers of the crowd just out of reach. "The Cap'n said that she'd be busy. She wouldn't mind if we snuck in to see just one fight!"

Nora gave a small sigh. Eli was always acting like this. They may be the same age, but she couldn't believe how childish he acted at times. "Alise doesn't seem the type to allow a distraction like that. Besides, you'll just get lost in the crowd and then we'll never find you."

"Hey, cut me some slack would you? I _am_ the eldest..."

"Only by a minute..."

"Even still!" Eli puffed out his chest and struck his manliest pose. "I won't be talked down to like some- Aw, crap." His chest deflated as he saw Alise round the corner.

"There you guys are." The exceptionally tall redhead said, holding out the twin's belongings for them to take. They did, and she readjusted the bag on her shoulder. "You ready to head out?"

Nora nodded, but Eli pouted. "Do we really have to go _now? _We just got here, and this place is a tourist's paradise! We gotta at least see one fight."

"We're not exactly tourists, kid," came Alise's blunt reply. "We're here to stock up before we head to Cados."

Eli looked like he was going to complain again, but Nora cut him off. "Exactly. We should head off." She turned to Alise. "We already stopped by Fortune's Market and bought some gels and the like. If you have nothing you need to do here, we'll be ready."

"Alright, then let's go." Alise turned and headed off to the Nordopolica's exit. The twins followed suit, Eli grumbling to himself.

* * *

Crossing the Eastern Plains of Desier to get to the Weasand of Cados wasn't as time-consuming as Alise first thought it would be. When the first group of monsters reared their ugly heads and attacked, the twins fought surprisingly well. Nora was quick on her feet and very nimble with a sword. She could hold back against any of the beasts that tried to close in on her brother. Eli, who focused his energy on casting spells, needed the help since he took forever to even cast a spell. Alise found herself simply watching as the twins did battle, helping out when she was needed with a few swift kicks or the one healing arte that she knew.

"You two surprised me." Alise folded her arms after Nora finished off the last of monsters with a strike arte. "I thought that I would end up doing most of the work, but you two are very capable."

Nora smiled and nodded at the compliment, but Eli got mouthy. "Yeah, but why aren't you helping out, Alise? I mean, That's what we're going to pay you for, right?"

"Hey, don't get me wrong." Alise took what goods she could from the monsters and continued to lead the way to Cados. "I just know that you'll need all the experience you can get before we go against the Hermit Drill. Trust me."

"Why? Have you fought the Hermit Drill before?"

Alise hesitated for a moment. "Not really, but still, I've seen what it can do." She softly shook her head, just enough that the twins wouldn't notice. "Be ready." Whatever was going through the twins' minds after that they kept to themselves. Alise liked it that way. She was never really one to reveal old scars.

The south entrance to the Weasand of Cados soon came into view. Once inside, the cavern seemed to swallow up all the light from outside. The quiet dripping noise that echoed throughout mixed in with the grunts and calls of the monsters that called the Weasand home. Alise pressed on, the twins behind her. They traveled through the dank cavern all of them wary of their surroundings. The footing was very poor, and one misstep could send any one of them sliding down into the darkness below.

"Man," Eli said loudly, trying his best to break the silence that lasted between the monsters attacks, "look at this place. Now _this_ is a cave! Of course the Hermit Drill would make its home here. A creepy place for a creepy monster."

"We haven't even seen what it looks like yet..." Even Nora's quiet voice echoed throughout the cavern. "Alise, do you know how far in the Hermit Drill lives?"

Alise shook her head, trying to listen for something. "There's only one way to find out." Her foot slipped suddenly, but Alise caught herself. "Watch your step here." She sidestepped to safer ground, making sure there was room for the twins to make it through as well.

A loud yelp echoed through the empty air, and Eli slipped and flew down a fork in the path, barely missing a trip down the ledge and into the abyss.

"Eli!" Nora hurried down to get her brother back on his feet and off of his rear end. Alise sighed in slight exasperation. It was almost comical how inept Eli seemed to be. Almost.

Nora wrapped her arm around her brother's torso, pulling him up and onto his feet. "Are you alright?" Eli didn't answer. Instead his gaze was fixated on what was just around the corner. Nora looked, and then turned to Alise. "Guess who we found."

Alise joined the two at the bottom of the path and sure enough the Hermit Drill was in sight. It's light blue shell shown even in the dim light Cados had to offer, the large yellow spines protruding out of his back illuminated in the darkness. The monster was large enough to only barely fit within the confines of the cave, but it stumbled about in an awkward fashion, sputtering and spitting out bubbles. It almost seemed like there was something wrong with it...

Eli found his ability to speak again, but even then words were scarce. "So that's the Hermit Drill... It's _huge._"

"Well, they don't call them Giganto monsters for any other reason." Alise rolled her shoulders back and stretched out her fingers, preparing for the upcoming fight. She looked over her shoulder to Eli and Nora. "You two ready?"

"Yeah, uh-of course." Eli took a cleansing breath and pumped his fists. "Okay, how about this? I'll start with a spell, and once it hits, you guys go in and... do your thing."

Alise shrugged. "Your call, kid."

"Okay." A crest of red light shone from underneath Eli's feet, a current of mana sang and flowed forth from the crest. Nora and Alise darted in towards the beast, which was oblivious to them. "O Infernal emperor, rise forth from the depths of the Earth... _Eruption!_"

The ground burst from underneath the monster, and waves of hot magma attacked its underbelly. The Hermit Drill fell down and let a gurgling cry in surprise, open for an attack. Nora struck first, slicing at the monster, but her blade glanced off its shell with a spark. She backstepped away as the Hermit Drill got back on its feet. The monster sputtered and a stream bubbles strew from it mouth. Nora dodged the bubbles on instinct and set a shockwave of mana straight to the Hermit Drill.

Meanwhile Alise rounded the back of the monster, looking for any sort of opening she could take advantage of. Considering her only weapons were the gloves on her hands and the grieves on her feet, she knew she wouldn't have much of an effect if she didn't time her attacks when its underbelly was exposed. She darted forward and kicked hard, but her kick had little effect. The Hermit Drill turned on her, and struck at Alise with a large powerful claw.

Hit, Alise was knocked down and sent skidding across the cavern floor. For an instant her imagination ran away from her...

_A man dressed in civilian clothes threw himself in front of his wife, taking the gigantic shelled monster's attack full on. He flew, and skidded off the side straight into some of the surrounding rocks. The monster turned on its downed pray, poised to attack._

_"Roland!" The woman screamed, her arms cradling a young child who just started to wake up in the commotion. A member of the Imperial Knights ran in, sword in hand, and stood in between the man and the beast. The knight's armor clattered as his knees shook in fright, but his grip was firm. He charged, yelling-_

"Splash!"

Alise snapped out of her trance, as the Hermit Drill was covered in a torrent of water, stopping it from closing in on her. She got back on her feet and darted off to a safer place, and cursed under her breath. It was unlike her to look back on her grim imaginings as a child. She didn't need this distraction, even if her being in this place was likely to invoke these memories...

"Keep it up, Nora!" Eli cheered on his sister, who ducked and weaved between the Hermit Drill's attacks. She was even managing to get a good number of slashes in. Alise figured she must have been tired by now, so she rushed to meet her.

She ran by just in time. "Watch it!" She cried, throwing a well-timed punch to meet the monster's oncoming attack, stopping it dead. She followed that up quick kick and an upper cut. "Fall back." Nora nodded and disappeared from view.

Alise tried to distract the monster by running circles around it to bide Nora some time to recuperate. She realized that the one really having any impact on the Hermit Drill was Eli with his spellcasting, though she was sure that they wouldn't last long enough to prove her right.

The Hermit Drill span around, trying to get Alise within striking range. _Keeping this up will get me no where,_ Alise decided and slid underneath the Hermit Drill's belly. At that moment the Hermit Drill dropped down its entire weight on her, trapping her beneath him. A brief moment of panic flooded over Alise...

_The young knight flinched as companion was flung off to his death by the Hermit Drill's massive claw. It was the first time he's moved since the monster had come out of no where and ravaged the small brigade that was, supposedly, protecting a young family through the Weasand of Cados. Now there was only him left. Him the and corpses of his fellow knights. _

_"He... help..."_

_The knight jumped and turned to the faint whisper. He saw a woman, the mother of the family sprawled on the floor, covering and clutching her now screaming child. The knight's lance clattered onto the ground and it's owner rushed to the woman's side. She was bleeding terribly, but she had managed to protect the child by letting herself bear the brunt of the attacks. _

_Trying to speak, the woman shakily held up the squirming and screaming child to the knight. He immediately knew what she wanted, but he felt dirty that he could not protect her, as a knight should have. As he took her, the redheaded child cried out louder. The knight grimaced and cursed under his breath as he snatched up his lance and ran... _

Alise's eyes snapped open. She was crushed beneath the Hermit Drill's weight. Alise groaned in frustration. With all the power she could muster, she delivered a powerful kick into the beast's center. The Hermit Drill was knocked clear off of her, and was stuck almost helplessly on its side. Alise got up as quick as a flash and moved back aways to catch her breath.

Her mind still buzzed from when she was trapped under the giant murderer. _I was just caught off guard, _she told herself, taking a big breath. _That's it. I think it's about time we head-_

The Hermit Drill had gotten up while Alise had rested and covered its head with its massive shell. It entered into a full on charge. She rolled out of the way in time, but it kept barreling straight past her. Straight into Eli.

"...Fall your sword of lightning upon those who..." His eyes were shut tight in concentration, oblivious to everything around him. The monster showed no signs of stopping. Alise was too far away to try anything. Nora ran to her brother, pushing him out of the way but getting caught in the monster's charge. "Ah! Nora!" Eli ran to Nora's side, who was down and badly hurt. The sputtering Hermit Drill reared up behind them and raised a strong claw.

A loud and shrill whistle rang throughout all of Cados. A large winged beast tore through the sky and rammed right into the Hermit Drill's neck. The giant crab fell over with a resounding crash, with the bird digging into the beast.

Alise heard a noise behind her. She whipped around and immediately had to duck as a wolf leaped over her head and ran straight for the downed Hermit Drill, another wolf following after it. Two men with weapons raised charged in as well, working in tandem with the wolf creatures.

The shrill whistle sounded again, this time in two sharp blasts. The bird flew up from the gigantic monster's neck and circled in the air above, the Hermit Drill struggling against the newcomers. All Alise and the twins needed to do was watch.

A man with large arms and a long brown vest walked up beside Alise, Eli and Nora, a double-bladed hand axe at rest in his belt and clay whistle around his neck. Alise glanced warily at him, but it was hard to be suspicious despite his large stature. Considering the company he kept, he had a warm disposition.

Alise shook her head in disbelief. Monsters usually were taken down by humans, not working together with them. And they worked together so well...

_Just who are these people?_

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Abrupt ending, but no matter~ Await the next installment =D


	4. Chapter 3: Beast Legion

Well, I seem to be consistent with my one chapter a month formula =P But hurray, I've finished =D As for those of you who simply read, why not leave a review? I accept anonymous ones, so don't be shy~ Man, 3331 words this time! They just get longer and longer, huh? I know I said I'd try to shorten them, but I got everything I wanted in the chapter covered, so what does it matter~ Here we leave old friends and meet new ones, so let's get started, shall we?

DISCLAIMER- Bamco's World, Mostly my characters. Cheers!

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Chapter 3: Beast Legion

The sounds of battle gave one last echo through out the Weasand of Cados. The men and their beasts had slain the Hermit Drill, which now lay lifeless on the cavern floor. Three of the four men were gathering whatever valuable materials could come from the Hermit Drill while the man with the whistle met with the twins to ensure their safety.

"So you guys are part of the Beast Legion?" Eli asked with empathsis on 'Legion.' He and his sister sat down on the cavern floor, exhausted from the fight.

The man grinned "Yup, that's us. We are the guiding light to a future of cooperation. We tame the wild monsters of this world and train them to help us out, instead of the both of us killing off the other. And _I_," the man jutted his thumb toward his exposed chest and grinned broadly, "am Lawrence, Lawrence Anders, son of our great leader."

The twins did not know how to respond to this. Looking to each other, they each said their names in unison. Lawrence shook each of their hands with gusto.

"So, what is Beast Legion doing here?" Nora asked, wringing her wrist. "If you're supposed to be taming the monsters, why'd you kill this one?"

"Well if it was any other monster we'd have intervened and sent it off after something else, but these Giganto Monsters are tricky. They're crazy territorial, so the best way to handle it is just to take them down as soon as possible."

The other men returned from the Giganto's carcass with their spoils. One of the men's wolves approached the two twins almost curiously, like he could tell they were uneasy. It stuck his muzzle towards Eli, who recoiled. Nora looked on, interested.

One of Lawrence's men shook his head and laughed. "Not much of a 'thank you' kind of guy, ain't he Conri?" He scratched it behind it's ears, and it nipped playfully at his hand.

Alise wasn't with the men who had congregated around the twins. She stood instead a short ways away from the others, thinking to herself and rolling a Apple Gel around in her mouth. She figured that the job was over, and now the twins needed to compensate. Her fresh wounds were being numbed by the medicine, and didn't seem anyone present knew any healing artes. Even so, what was she to do next?

Meanwhile, Lawrence took one of his men aside. "So, what could you tell? Was he like the others?"

"Not as far as I could tell. If he was, he wasn't as far along as the others. Which is weird, since he lives closest to an aer krene."

Eli butted in. "Huh? What are you guys talking about?"

Lawrence blinked. He wasn't expecting to be interrupted. "Oh, well, you see," He cleared his throat. "We are on orders from my Dad- I mean Anders- to check out the condition of the giganto monsters to ensure that they remain in their natural state. See, we've gotten reports that the Gigantos have been more feral than usual, considering they would usually only attack those that venture too close to their habitats. Now they seem to going out of their way to attack travelers. We're trying to investigate the cause."

Nora spoke up. "Do you think that it has something to do with aer, then?"

"Yeah, we've only checked out the Lord of The Plains and the Hermit Drill, though. Thing is we suspect that someone has been tamperin' with the poor things..."

"Uhhmm.." Eli gave his sister a weird look, who reciprocated. "Poor _things?_ You know those things are just _monsters_, right?"

Lawrence sighed. "No, they're still living beings. They deserve life just as much as we do." No response... "Geez," Lawrence scratched his head, "why does everyone always give me that look..?"

"_'Cause you're crazy..._" Eli muttered, and Nora elbowed him in the ribs. "Listen, Lawrence," said Nora. "I know you obviously feel deeply about this, but those 'poor things' are a threat. Travelers are always getting attacked by these monsters and they lose their lives to them."

"Yes, that's because the people aren't being careful enough. We need them just as we need mana." Lawrence shut his eyes, clearly uncomfortable. He soon put his hands up defensively. "How about this? I'll show you."

This time everyone shared a look(Even Alise raised an eyebrow from where she was.). This time a member of Beast Legion spoke. "Uhmm, what are you suggestin' Lawrence? That we should take these three with us?"

"Sure! Best way to educate the public, don't you think?"

Alise shrugged, still isolated from the others. _Well, that would certainly be something to do. _At last she started to make her way over, standing a little ways away from Lawrence. She eyed him with some interest. There was something about this guy that reminded her of... something. She couldn't put her finger on it.

Lawrence turned to Alise, with big grin and warm gray eyes. "So what do you think?"

Alise shrugged. "I'd ask the twins first."

"Okay then, what do you two think? Wanna see just how amazing these creatures are?"

The twins looked to each other. "We would be able to check out the other gigantos on this continent if we went with them." said Eli.

Nora nodded. "It also wouldn't hurt to have an open mind about the world, I suppose."

"Great! Let's call it an adventure then." Lawrence beamed while one of his men shook his head in slight embarrassment. "If we head out to Mantaic right away, we should be able to make it by sundown. You all ready?"

"Wait a minute," Alise spoke up, and all eyes turned to her. She didn't like all of those eyes, so she closed her own and crossed her arms. "I won't be going with you."

"Huh?" Eli looked at her in surprise. "Why not?"

"My job is done, Eli. I was meant to take you to find the Hermit Drill, and to make sure you didn't take on too much by yourselves. Now the Hermit Drill's dead and you two are not going to be risking your lives on some venture with just the two of you." She looked to the members of Beast Legion. "I'm sure these men are more than qualified to keep you from harm, so I'm off."

"What, so, you're just gonna go _back?_ But, we can't even pay you."

Lawrence looked back and forth from Alise to the twins, stopping at Alise. "You need payment?" She nodded, and Lawrence took a large piece of shell that his men had taken from the Hermit Drill and handed it to Alise. She had to take hold of it with two hands it was so heavy, yet Lawrence had handled it with ease. "You could get yourself a pretty penny with that. The Hermit Drill's shell is some of the strongest stuff you'll find, and very valuable."

"Uh, thanks..."

"And I never caught your name, either. What is it?"

She shifted her grip on the shell. "Alise."

"Alise," the man repeated and smiled nicely. "Good to meet you. Now then," he turned to his men, "Let's get moving!" The Beast Legion squad grabbed their things and lead the way to Kogorh's exit, with Eli and Nora trailing behind them. The twins turned to wave as they moved farther away, and Alise nodded to them.

She stayed where she was for a moment, alone and trying to keep a grip on her heavy load. By the time the others were out of sight, Alise dropped the piece of shell on the floor. She had no real need for it, anyway.

Alise started to leave the cold and dreary cavern, making her way back the way she had came. She took no time to fight the monsters that tried to chase after her, focusing on getting out of there as fast as she could. Leaving the Weasand of Cados made her feel better, not only with the sun on her back and the wide open spaces.

_Why'd I take this job, anyway? Nordopolica, the Weasand of Cados, I don't like either of those places... Too many things..._

Alise thought back to when she was eighteen, about three years ago. She had stood at the dock with her uncle, waiting for a friend of Garrett's to take her to Illycia. Her uncle stood at her side and asked her the question he seemed so fond of asking her: _"Are you sure this is what you want to do?"_

Alise had been planning this for a while. She had felt simply stewing around in Nordopolica wasn't good for her mental health. Seeing all those reminders of what happened, like the long and crippling scar on Garrett's right arm and the memorial nearby to her own family's, never sat well with her. Besides, if she could get herself out of this town, she might be able to find word of Ray...

Whenever Garrett would ask his favorite question, Alise would sigh and mutter her favorite answer: _"There's nothing else I want to do."_

Alise had a bad tendency to lose herself in thought, and she sighed again at her hopelessness. She had already walked a considerable distance from Cados, and Nordopolica was in sight. Her shoulders dropped a bit. She was heading straight back to the small prison she had spent three years staying away from.

Something caught her attention. Alise glanced out of the corner of her eye, surprised by a flurry of movement some distance away. Several figures scrambled behind a rock, and Alise heard a frightened yelp. The hairs on the back of her neck stood up as her undeniable curiosity drove her forward. She ran to the rocks, hiding just on the other side of a large boulder. She peeked her head around the corner.

Two bandits, one a man with a dagger and the other a woman with a staff, cornered a shuddering boy into the crevice of boulders, their backs to Alise.

"C'mon, kid. Are you really that _stupid?_" The woman scoffed, tapping her staff in her hand and laughing. "You may have been traveling with the knights, but you're denser than a rock!"

A boy who looked to be about 12 years old pressed his back tightly up against the face of the rock, his legs shaking and beads of sweat visible even from where Alise hid. His blue eyes were wide as he stared at the knife threatening him.

"Let's hope if he's a rock he's a mine ta boot." The masked bandit sneered and moved forward suddenly. The boy let out a loud sniveling whimper as he squeezed his eyes shut. The bandits laughed and the boy pressed harder against the rock, snot and tears staining his face.

"Ah what, no gald? Not even any precious jewelery?" The boy immediately clutched at his neck, and the woman smiled and batted the boy's hand away with her staff. The boy snapped back and pushed the staff away from him. The woman smacked him, and she pressed her staff against his chest. "Not cute, dear. Will be taking that, if you don't mind."

"Even if we have to cut your head off to get it." The bandit moved closer, and fell to the floor with a grunt.

"Who the- Ack!" Alise grabbed the woman by the back of her collar and pulled her to the side. The woman in red pivoted and stood in between the boy and the two bandits. Each of the thugs stumbled to get to their feet and into a fighting stance. "You little," the woman snarled. Alise's eyes narrowed.

"Guess we gotta take you out, too!" The man with the dagger rushed Alise and slashed. She managed to push his arm away with one hand before he hit, deck him in the jaw with the other, and sent him to the ground with a kick to the gut.

The woman retreated back aways and started to cast a spell, the yellow flecks of mana singing around her. Alise rushed her sliding to a stop and kicking the mage's legs from under her. She fell and was met with a face full of boot. Nose broken, she backed off further, and the man already trying to make for the exit.

"Why don't you leave?" Alise muttered darkly, standing over the bleeding woman. "I'm sure there are other wastes of time you can go and bully." The bandits ran off, and Alise exhaled. _That was some exercise. _Alise rolled her shoulders and turned to look at the boy. "And how are you?"

The boy stared wide eyed back at Alise, and she could see what a mess he really was. His clothes were in good condition, a blue top with a while long sleeved undershirt tucked into light brown pants and black belted shoes. However his face was covered in snot, tears, and dirt. His poofy mess of curly black hair was snarled and seemed to stand on end. Other than that there was nothing wrong with him.

"Well?"

Eventually the boy removed himself from the wall and dropped to his hands and knees, his head bowed low, in front of Alise.

This made Alise wildly uncomfortable. "Uh, you don't have to do that."

"No, no, it's just, _maaaaann._" The boy looked up, obviously out of breath. He stumbled to his feet, still shaking. "I thought I was gonna die! At least until you showed up." He wiped his face with his sleeve and looked at it. "Gah, disgusting! I bet I look like crap!"

_I've seen better crap, _Alise wanted to say, but she figured it wouldn't be good timing. "At least you've got your health, I suppose."

"Yeah, sure. Oh!" The boy suddenly stood up straight, like he was standing at attention. "My name is Gordon. Gordon Brune." He bowed. "I thank you for saving my life."

"Uhm, no problem. I really should be going though." She turned to leave.

"W-wait! Where to?"

"I'm going to..." She turned back, considering not to tell the boy. "Nordopolica, I guess."

"Oh, really? Me too! Well, at least I was, until, y'know..."

"Fascinating."

"Well, uh. Do you think we should go together? Just in case something happens?"

Alise closed her eyes and took another breath. "Sure, come then." Both her and Gordon began to walk to path to Nordopolica. They mostly traveled in silence, with Gordon muttering to himself periodically and trying to start up various conversations, but Alise didn't talk much.

"Sooo... What were you doing all by yourself out here?" Was one of the boy's attempts.

"Traveling."

"Oh_. Well, obviously... Sure are prickly..._"

Alise cocked an eyebrow, but kept her thoughts to herself. "What about you? How'd you end up with those two thugs?"

Alise wasn't looking, but she could tell Gordon hesitated. "Uhh. Th-that doesn't matter. I was traveling with the Imperial Knight, though." His tone of voice gained a sense of pride, and Alise couldn't help but smile a bit. "My dad's a lieutenant, you know. Lieutenant Brenton Brune, though he didn't come with us on this expedition and he let me come all by myself!"

"You also got separated from your group and got ambushed, right?" Alise's comment bruised Gordon's ego enough to keep him quiet for the rest of the trip, which took only a few minutes more. They soon entered Nordopolica and Gordon lead the way to the docks, to the large Imperial Guardship Alise had noticed earlier that day. A short man dressed in armor and a shield on his back stood on the deck, pacing anxiously. Once Gordon and Alise were in sight of him, he stopped and ran to them.

"Ah, Gordon!" The man's deep voice boomed despite his notably small frame. "Where _have_ you been? I have been worried sick about you!"

Alise was startled. This man's voice was more obnoxious than Eli's. _Is this his... dad? _Alise wondered briefly.

Gordon jumped a bit and then lowered his defeated head. "Geez, I'm terribly sorry Lieutenant Boccos! I-I just got caught up in something, that's all. I swear, it won't happen _ever_ again!"

"Well, it had better not." The Lieutenant frowned. "When I first noticed that you were missing I searched all over the town! And then I thought, 'What would his father do if his only son had wandered off, and he blamed _me!_' Oh, how the captain would be furious!"

Alise did her trademarked sigh and Gordon looked down dejectedly. "Sorry. I just..."

"Well, it is no matter, because as long as you are safe, I still have a job!" Boccos laughed heartily at his own joke, and seemed to finally notice Alise towering over the two of them. "Oh and who is this young woman who is with you?"

"Oh, this is Alise. She uh..."

"Gordon was distracted and I found him trying to find his way back here. I made sure he got back here on one piece" She spoke nonchalantly.

"Hmm, I see. It is most fortunate that you were around, then. You have the appreciation of the myself and the Imperial Knights." Boccos nodded, and turned to Gordon. "Alright, let's head back to the Imperial Port. Everyone is is already on the ship."

"Oh, but-" Gordon stopped Boccos, collected himself and turned to Alise. He spoke gingerly. "Hey, do you need to stay in town or anything?"

Alise gave the kid an odd look, and then thought for a bit. She looked to the coliseum, whose crowd still roared from the excitement of the fights, her uncle's voice ringing out indecipherably.

"I suppose I don't..." Alise's stomach burned within her, but she ignored it.

"Then do you think we can let Alise come with us to Zaphias?" Gordon asked Boccos.

Boccos was wide eyed. "But, Gordon, I-"

"It's just so I can take her to go meet my dad! He'd want to know who helped me out, a-and thank her. It shouldn't be trouble at all."

"Hmm, well alright. If Miss Alise is okay with it." The Lieutenant nodded respectfully to Alise and then walked up the Guardship's boarding plank, shouting. "Alright men! We're just about off. Adecor! Tell Captain Mordred that we have found young Gordon, and that we'll be setting off!"

"I say, I shall head off immediately!"

"Gordon." Alise's voice was as sharp as a knife, and Gordon winced at the sound of it. "You mind telling me why you've volunteered me to do this."

"Uhh, well, it's true! I mean, he's all professional and smart and stuff. He'd, y'know, want to meet you and..."

Alise put up her hand. "That's enough. I suppose I might as well go then, since you did go through the trouble to give me a ride. Is this repayment for saving your life?"

"Uh, sort of..." Gordon shuffled his feet and cleared his throat. "Anyway we shouldn't keep the other knights waiting. I'm sure gonna get it from them, let me tell ya." He turned and whined rather loudly to himself. "_Maaan,_ I hope it's a smooth ride... I _hate_ being on the ocean..."

Alise shook her head and followed the youth up and onto the ship. There knights all over the place, as expected. Talking and laughing, several of them stared at Alise since they didn't expect her to show up. She made a face, as uncomfortable with staring as the next person, and turned her attention again to the roaring coliseum.

_Sorry, Garrett. I just can't seem to stay in one place for long. _Alise sighed and closed her eyes, the feeling of guilt entering her stomach. _Seems all I ever do is roam. Never in one spot, never with anyone else. Except for right now... _She looked to all the knights around her, several of whom were hassling Gordon, who fidgeted more than he was known for and making a fuss. Alise laughed lightly, but then a new feeling enter her stomach. Something like a warning...

_Why do I feel like, _Alise wondered, _that'll all change now?_

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Yay~ So what did you think =) Be sure to drop me a line when you can~ Reviews send me through the ROOF~! It was so fun writing as the new Lieutenant Boccos! I couldn't stop laughing with his deep voice playing in my head~! Oh I'm such a fan X3 Oh, and don't expect skits on this one. Sorry. Hugs and Cuddles~

-RaeMina


	5. Chapter 4: The Nervous Squire

Yay, Chapter 4~ Ever since I finished the last chapter, I've had writing fever! I've even come up with a new fic, called When Determination Strikes. The first chapter is already up, so if you missed it go check it out! WDS is a prequel to ToDilucia, with the focus on how Brave Vesperia has been doing, especially my man Karol~ Though after finishing WDS, I lost my mojo for a while, and I was 3/4 of the way through this chapter but stuck! Can you believe it? But here we are! Good as new!

In the mean time, we'll see just how private a person Alise really is, plus a bit more about our resident neurotic, Gordon Brune.

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Chapter 4: The Nervous Squire

The Guardship traveled through the night across the Central ocean at a brisk pace. The deck was mostly empty if it wasn't for Alise and the knights on duty, who routinely checked the ropes and the condition of the motor propelling the vessal forward.

Alise, as usual, kept to her self, staring off into the horizon where the cold black ocean melted in with the starlit sky. It was one of Alise's favorite things to lean her elbows against the rail of a ship, to let the cold wind numb her face as they sailed. Something about the numb feeling in her face helped her think or at least it put her at ease. The view helped as well.

Admist the blurred horizon and the stars in the faint purple sky, multicolored flecks of light that were spread out in the distance hovered and dance like fireflies. They hung low enough to be touched, but it always seemed that they would never allow themselves to be touched my mortal hands. Such was a sight common to every night at sea: small Elemental Spirits, such as was the end result of the Blastia Purge about twenty years prior.

"Greetings, my young knights." A voice broke through the silent sea air. The shuffle of feet told Alise that the men were now standing at attention, and she leaned her back against the side of the ship to see what was going on.

"Evening, Captain Mordred, sir," said the attending knights in unison.

"Why don't you all go on under. It's been a long day of marching and the ship should be fine on it's own for the night."

"Thank you, Captain." The knights left their posts, cheering quietly as soon as they were down the stairs.

"You should be under, too. It's cold up here." Mordred looked to Alise so she could get as good a look of him in the light of the night. The Captain had small eyes, a large nose, and a wide face. His dark hair was receding and slicked back, going grey at the ends. He was still in full armor, his uniform a faint yellow, a lance fastened to his back.

"I like the cold." Alise said plainly, shaking out her long braid to free itself.

The man chuckled and approached her, laying his hand on the ship's railing and looking out. "A lovely night."

"You flatter yourself by saying that." Mordred gave Alise a slightly confused look, and she sighed. "It's a joke, cap'n."

"Ah. I see." He clearly didn't. Alise assumed his sense of humor hadn't had much practice over his tenure as a knight. "I understand you are the young lady who helped out Gordon. Alise, correct?"

"And you are Captain Mordred." Alise spoke shortly. She didn't feel like reliving a conversation she had already had several times with the other knights, asking her what happened, but she wouldn't mind a little small talk before the turned in. "It was nice of you to let those guys off the deck."

"Thank you. I do my best to do well by my men." Then they were silent for a few seconds, and Alise considered leaving before he spoke up again. "You were probably too young to remember what it was like before the Blastia Purge. I was still a regular recruit when it happened, much like the knights on this very ship. One day, all I had to worry about was weither or not I'd pass inspection that night when a thousand lights lit up the night sky, and soon none of the blastia worked. A few months later I was called into duty. It was then my real career in the Empire began, and since then it changed my expectations forever."

"And what does all of this have to do with me?" Alise asked curtly. This conversation seemed to go well beyond small talk.

"I knew many good people who died during those tulmultuous months. Innocent people. As well as many of my fellow knights." Mordred was looking straight at her, but Alise kept her gaze fixed on her shoes. "I was just thinking that maybe this was something you wanted to hear. "

Alise looked down at her feet, twisted and confused. Unsolicited, Captain Mordred had succeded in making her feel, making her remember what happened. Something that she wanted to leave behind just like she did her home town.

"I have a question, if you don't mind." He said calmly.

"What."

"Your last name... It is Murain, correct?"

Alise gave Captain Mordred a look that betrayed her feelings. "How would_ you_ know that?" She asked with quiet distrust.

Seemingly embarassed, Morded chuckled quietly. "Forgive me if I was prying."

Alise pushed herself off from the railing and left the Captain where he was. "Consider yourself forgiven." She left without another word, and it was the Captain's turn to sigh.

He muttered. "I suppose I could have handled that better..." He looked to the innumerable stars above and watched as the atmosphere began to glistened and glow brightly. "But, ah," he smiled softly, "how she looked like her mother."

.;:;.;:;.;:;.;:;.;:;.;:;.;:;.;:;.;:;.;:;.;:;.;:;.;:;.;:;.

The Imperial Guardship cruised through the waters of the Central ocean, through the night and into the day, pulling into the harbor in Southern Illycia. The harbor was built several years ago to house the Empire's fleet of ships, built out of the materials salvaged from an old battleship called the Heracles.

The Guardship joined the ranks of other identical Imperial vessals and the occupying knights filed off of the ship in an orderly fashion. It was after all the others had left did both Alise and Gordon disembark.

Gordon stumbled and nearly collapsed once he hit solid ground. His face was pale from the ride over, exhausted from not getting a wink of sleep. He had stayed below deck for the entire ride, and this was one of his better times on a ship. Normally he tired to avoid going on a ship at all costs, but he had to push himself. How else would he be able to become a good knight, like his father and grandfather and great grandfather, and so on?

After calming down, Gordon went on the look out for his father. "He said he'd be here when I got back..." His father wasn't one to show up late for anything, even though he had recently been busy with his duties as a lieutenant. He walked further on through the slowly dispercing crowd, his head flipping right and left.

He stopped in his tracks. Right in his line of sight was Dawn, who was standing a fair distance away, looking off in another direction in earnest. Her short brown hair was up in a high pony tail, with that pretty blue ribbon she always wore tying it up. She was wearing her dark blue uniform with the white apron, what she always wore when Gordon saw her.

Dawn turned her head and looked straight at Gordon, a smile forming on her face. Gordon felt his heart skip a beat. She trotted over to him and held her arms out wide. "I found you!"

"U-uhh yeah, here I am!" Gordon mimicked Dawn and held his arms out. They hugged briefly.

"Ah, good thing I finally found you. Three whole ships came in before I saw you. I've been here for _hours!_" Dawn faked an annoyed yawn, and Gordon chuckled nervously.

"Sorry about that, Dawn. But where's Dad at?"

Dawn hesitated slightly. "Well, the Lieutenant is back at Zaphias. I know he said he would be here, but he was caught up in work, so I came instead."

"W-what?" Gordon grabbed Dawn's shoulders. "All by _yourself_? That's dangerous, Dawn! You could have been attacked or worse!"

"Hey, give me some credit." Dawn shrugged herself free and giving Gordon a wry look. "I caught a ride with a convoy of knights who were making their way over. You say it as if I'm completely helpless." She spoke with a hint of teasing in her voice, but Gordon was silently indignant. She always acted so carelessly. It worried him what would happen one day.

Gordon shook his head. "N-nevermind that, now. I want you to meet someone." He turned, but no one was there. "Huh? Alise?" He panicked for a moment. "Hey! _Alise!_ Where'd she go..."

Dawn tilted her head. "Alise? Who's that, Gordon?"

"Er well, she's wearing all red. Long red braid, very tall..." Gordon looked back to Dawn, who was looking up at the very tall, red clad individual who had approched the two. "Alise!"

"There you are." Came Alise's annoyed reply, her arms crossed imposingly. "You sure know how to dissappear on me. You just left me at the dock and I lost sight of you."

"Ack," Gordon lowered his head. "Sorry, I was looking for my dad, and uh..."

"Hello there," Dawn piped up cheerfully, nodding and holding her hand out in greeting. "Your Alise? My name is Dawn."

"Hey." Alise shook Dawn's hand quickly, looking her over. "You Gordon's sister or something?"

"W-_what?_ Nuh-uh, Dawn's _not_ my sister." Gordon spat out flusteredly. Alise gave him a look, thinking there must have been something wrong with the boy.

Dawn didn't see it as such a big deal and giggled. "No, I'm not related to Gordon at all. I just work as a caretaker at his house, like my sister did before she got married. I came to make sure Gordon was safe and to take him home."

"Huh, sounds like why I'm here." Alise gave Gordon a wry look. "Is that it? You just like having cute girls follow you everywhere?"

Gordon's fists clenched and his face turned red with embarassed fury. Alise shook her head. He made it so easy to get under his skin, she hardly had to try.

"Uhhh, well it was nice meeting you, Alise, but we should really get going." Dawn bowed respectfully.

"Dawn, wait." Gordon said, his face still red. "I told Alise that dad would want to meet her, so we can take her with us."

"Why?"

Gordon bit his lip and shared a glance with Alise, who shrugged indifferently. "How about I tell you on the way...?"

* * *

"Wow Gordon, that's insane." Dawn said breathlessly. Gordon had just finished telling Dawn all that had happened by the time they had reached the Imperial Capital, Zaphias. They entered through the Public Quarter, the second and most populated Quarter of the capital, which was packed with people hurrying about. "I'm glad you're okay now. But how'd you get cornered? You were with the knights, right?"

Alise was curious about this too. It was something Gordon had neglected to tell anyone who asked, and it seemed Dawn was no exception. He awkwardly dodged her pursuing questions, and soon she gave up and they made their way to a fairly large house close to the market place.

They entered, and Dawn bowed as she would to any other guest to the Brune Household. "Why don't you sit in the drawing room? Lieutenant Brune should be at home, I'll just need to get his attention. Would you like anything to eat or drink, Alise?"

Alise shook her head. "No. Thanks though." Dawn left, closing the door behind her. Left alone were Gordon and Alise in the drawing room, which just looked like a room with a bunch of chairs surrounding a rug to Alise. She sat in the closest armchair she found and immediately her stomach rumbled. She cursed her bad luck, but ignored it. She always found herself hungry while she traveled, so she was used to such a feeling.

Once she got settled she got to thinking. _I've been pretty lax as of late. I've just been letting whatever kid who needed my help drag me all over Terca Lumireis. Sure, I don't have anything important I need to get to, but I won't be able to make my living if I keep on doing work for free..._ Alise looked to Gordon, who was sitting directly across from her on a sofa, gripping his knees. _Though I have a feeling he's trying to do something..._

Meanwhile, Gordon probably looked as nervous as he felt. Soon his dad will be here, and he wouldn't give up in finding out what actually happened at Desier. He felt so embarassed about what really happened, like he should have known better, but it was better for him to tell his father. He would understand... Hopefully he would let him go...

After some moments of thinking, the door clicked open. Lieutenant Brune entered wearing pale yellow clothing, no doubt a more casual version of a knight's uniform. He was a short but sturdy man with straight dark brown hair and dull blue eyes. Just as soon as he entered he clicked the door shut behind him.

"Dad!" Gordon sat up straight as a rod.

"Gordon," Brune's plain expression quickly turned into a friendly smile at the sight of his son. "Glad to have you back." He stood behind the sofa and rested his hand on Gordon's shoulder. "I trust the mission was a success?"

"Not really, Dad." Gordon sighed and looked up to his father. "We scoured the plains but we weren't able to find anything about the influx of aer and mana in the region. Captain said we woud have to come back later in order to check out the surrounding islands."

Alise raised her eyebrows. _So that was what the knights were up to. An influx of aer _and _mana? _

"I see, but what is this about an 'incident?' Dawn told me you ran into some trouble, Gordon." His son tensed up. "She seemed worried."

Gordon let out a shuddering sigh, and both Alise and Brune leaned forward to hear his story. "I was just... See, we were finished checking out the area, it's how I knew that we pretty much found nothing and uh..." He fidgeted, draggin out his words. "So I was walking towards the back of the group, thinking and stuff when a woman showed up behind me. And she was pratically begging me, asking for me to help her, 'cause her companion needed help, they were attacked by monsters. And I was in the back, right? I didn't want to ignore her, but I... Figured I could do it alone so..."

Alise scoffed lightly, and leaned back in the chair. "So you just went off with her alone. That's how you got ambushed."

Gordon shot to his feet, fists clenched and glaring. "I was trying to help out! A good knight would have helped any person in need!"

Brune's level voice rang out. "A good knight would have asked for the others to help to ensure it wasn't a set up _as well _as helping someone in need." Gordon's face flushed with frustration and he sat back down, his father sitting down next to him. It seemed that Brune had to deal with this behavior from Gordon fairly often. "Go on now. Tell us what happened."

Gordon let go of a breath. Alise shifted her weight and propped up her head in her hand boredly.

"Well the woman lead me back a bit the way we came and then this guy popped outta no where a-and he had a knife s-so I froze out..." He locked his shoulders together and he hid his face underneath his hair. "You know how I get, plus I kinda just blanked out and the next thing I knew I was cornered.

"Then the same lady started laughing at me... And she tried to take Dawn's necklace..." Gordon tucked his hand down the front of his shirt and pulled out a small and plain looking pendant attached to a small chain. "But I stopped her and then," At last Gordon looked up from his lap to Alise. "That's when she showed up."

Brune looked to Alise as well. "I was wondering when you came into all of this."

Alise adjusted her posture and crossed her legs. "I just did what any other would have done. I was also on my way to Nordopolica when I happened to pass by, so your son lucked out." She spared a glance to Gordon, who nodded. "I took care of them easily, sent them packing when Gordon insisted that I'd come back to meet you, Lieutenant."

Brune nodded, ruminating for a time. He turned to Gordon while still talking to Alise. "Well I am grateful you helped out my son as you did. He tends to get in over his head at times, but he's a good kid when it comes to it."

"Even the good kids can cause trouble, mind you..."

Brune chuckled out of curtesy. He seemed to be a very serious person. Alise wondered where that straight was lost with Gordon. "I have a question Alise. Are you a member of a guild, by chance? Forgive me but looking at you I can tell you don't live in Zaphias."

Alise took no offense, but she pursed her lips anyway. "No guild. I mostly travel on my own." Gordon looked up in surprise, looking disconcerted by this.

Brune didn't seem notice. "That's fine. Though I do suspect you could looking for a reward."

Alise shook her head. "Actually, having your son take me along from Nordopolica was enough for me." She got up from her seat, hoping to be able to leave soon. "If you had anything in mind I wouldn't mind, but I'd like to get moving as soon as possible."

Brune nodded and stood up. "Of course. I am busy as well, but you're welcome around here anytime if you need it."

The two shook hands, and Alise thought breifly on the non adventure she was about to have. Times without work seemed to pass like a slug riding on the back of sleeping sloth. But with recent events, Alise would have been happy to have some time to herself. Some lounging about would do her good, but what to do after she was tired of that?

Her answer came before she could even let go of the lieutenent's hand.

_"Wait!"_ Gordon shot up from his seat. The look on his face was a mix of embarassment and dertermination. His fists clenched tightly, his eyebrows smooshed together, he said with a shaky voice, "I want to go with her."

* * *

bum Bum BUUM. Obvious plot twist is obvious. But it's there and done! :D PLEASE review! It makes me feel special and it would be nice to know if people are actually reading this thing, not just browsing, thinking to themselves, "HOLY CRAP THAT'S A LOT OF WORDS WHERE IS YURI HE IS SAPPOSED TO BE KISSING FLYNN!" That is if they think that way

Send a review my way, maybe even a favorite, and I just might find the strength to update more often! See? Karma is a good friend :D

Another note is I'll be starting college in a month. YAY! But I'll be busy with new responcibilities, so I might not be able to update within my usual month... But don't give up! I already said I was sticking this puppy through to the end, so Im gonna! See yall next month!

-RaeMina


	6. Chapter 5: To the Road Ahead

6097 friggin words. Of my estimate, I was over by 100 words XD That's what happens when I wait so long to update: YOU GET TO READ IT! '^' Enjoys, and make sure you have about 20 minutes of free time to finish in it one sitting~

* * *

Chapter 5 : To the Road Ahead

"I want to go with her." That was all Gordon said, facing his father and Alise. Both of them were silent as the boy stood with clenched and trembling fists.

"You want to go with her...?" Lieutenant Brune repeated, his arms now at his sides and his expression calm despite the sudden upset. An awkwardly loud creaking sounded outside the door, but they all pretended to ignore it.

"Yes," Gordon swallowed audibly. "I do. I know it's short notice, but I've been thinking a lot about it, ever since the boat. I was _going_ to wait until you got to know Alise a little better but it was going too fast for me to be more tactful and stuff..."

Alise turned her head away from Gordon, shaking her head. _Gordon, you idiot... It's not like you've even known me for that long either._

Out of no where the Lieutenant released a long and tired sigh. He opened his mouth, but his son beat him to it.

"Yeah, I know, 'You have to think things through before you act,' but Dad I _have been_ thinking. I couldn't even sleep on the trip over, less than usual anyway, but every hour on the ship, I just," the boy stopped for a moment, as if the idea was foreign to him. "I just knew what I wanted much sooner."

"Knew what you wanted..." Alise echoed in a wordless whisper. She turned her head back to Gordon to find him looking straight at her. Once their eyes met the boy flinched and looked at the floor in sudden shyness. For a moment she knew _precisely_ how he was feeling. He knew what he was doing was foolish and selfish. However he was at a time when nothing was happening in his life, when it was all the same and the future would never seem to happen if things remained as they were. He had to do something, or else nothing would. The only difference was he could look into the eyes of the one who would be standing with him at the dock.

While Alise contemplated this revelation, Brune was still trying to talk his son out of his ideas. His voice had changed from practiced patience to restrained frustration. "Gordon, I get how you're feeling now, but this isn't something you should rush. You have plenty of time-"

"Dad, I don't care!" He stamped his foot, his blue eyes burning into his father's. Now Gordon was yelling, it all spilling out and his words stumbling out of his mouth. "Who cares how much time I've got left if I- If I'm _wasting_ what I got now doing nothing! I'm _fifteen_ years old, Dad. This is when I should be out there and making a name for me o-or s-something!"

"A lot has happened and you said yourself that you haven't slept since." The lieutenant said flatly. "And what of Alise? This seems to be the first time you've brought it up to anyone. Even with all of this you've neglected to think of her? It's not like you, Gordon. You're better than that."

The words hit their mark, and Gordon faltered. He muttered something and glanced up at Alise, embarrassed. Alise was thinking her own thoughts with her arms crossed and her head held low. She glanced up as well. The tilt of her head gave the glance more contempt than she willed, so Gordon flinched and looked away.

"You muttered. Speak up, Gordon."

The boy did, but dejectedly. "I was actually trying not to think about that... I had an idea of what she might say before, so..."

Alise raised her head, keeping quiet but grimacing. Considering how she felt now, she wasn't sure what she would have said. The nagging in her gut returned, and this time it was very hard to ignore.

Silence hung in the air for a time, and at last Brune's voice regained it's polite and calm tone. "I'm sorry for the inconvenience, Miss Alise. Please don't let my son hold you up any further." Nodding tightly, Alise reshifted the pack on her shoulder, and slowly made her way to the door. She didn't need to turn back to know what was next.

"Alise," Gordon pleaded. Some lighter sounds suggested that he had tried to move to stop Alise, but his father held him back. "Maybe you don't understand, but I'm not trying to do this just for me, a-at least I don't want to be, but... "

"I understand all too well, Gordon." Alise said grimly, cutting the boy off. She didn't stop walking until she was out the parlor door, closing it behind her.

Dawn jumped guiltily away from the door when it swung ajar. The girl stood at attention for a moment, then relaxed when she realized it was only Alise exiting. "S-sorry about that. I hope you don't take my curiosity too personally." said Dawn. Alise kept walking to the door, seeming not to hear. "Oh, hey wait!"

Alise stopped where she was and sighed inwardly. She had wanted to keep her exit brief in case she decided to make a wrong choice without knowing it. The woman turned her head back, her face carefully void of emotion.

"Uh..." Dawn bit her lower lip. "I was just wondering, what happened in there?"

"You should know." Alise said plainly. "You were listening in, weren't you?"

Dawn stiffened. "Well, yes, but I want to know why you're leaving so soon? I mean, It's only been an hour since you came, so I was fixing you dinner as well.."

"That's nice of you, but I really shouldn't. It might give Gordon too high expectations if I stayed any longer."

"But you understand what he wants, right? I bet Gordon's impressed by what you did back on Desier. He just wants to be able hold his own, like you. You've seen him, I'll admit he's not exactly a coliseum champion yet, but he-"

Alise put up a hand, stopping her. "He's also still _young._ He doesn't know what he wants, not completely anyway."

Alise had thought she had put it politely enough, but she had struck a nerve. Dawn held her breath in indignation. "So you're just ignoring Gordon? Even though he actually had the guts to come right out and say what was on his mind?" She scoffed. "I mean no offence, but I never figured you to be the kind to flat out ignore someone, a kid no less, just so you could continue to be a big shot all on your own."

Without her meaning to, Alise's eyes narrowed. _What does she know? She's known me for only a couple of hours, tops. But I can tell she's not really angry with me though, just the idea of it. I bet she's just looking out for what Gordon wants, that's all._ Alise tried to force a polite smile to defuse the girl, but ended up with a curled lip. "You shouldn't assume things so quickly. You could end up making a mistake."

By then the smell of burning meat entered the room. Alise could have laughed at the irony. At first Dawn stood her ground, staring Alise down with determination, as if this was some sort of showdown between the two. Moments later, the smell was followed by smoke and Dawn had to rush off to tend to the mess. Alise took this as her cue to leave as well.

Alise always had trouble keeping up with the time, but she even failed to realize that when the ship had reached port it was actually late afternoon. Now it was close to dusk and she wouldn't have the time to continue on her journey to no where in particular. She had been in the Imperial Capital some time before, so she knew that the cheapest inn was in the Lower Quarter. All she had to do was find her way there, which was a matter of following the crowds until she could recognize some sort of landmark. As she walked, she thought.  
_  
Dawn's right though, The kid sure had guts. I knew he was thinking of doing something, but I really didn't except it. Show's how sharp I am. I can't believe he's actually _fifteen_ either. I mean, I guess it was a little harsh to judge him to be a twelve-year-old kid. He looks to be the kind to literally blow away in the wind if it wasn't for the weight of his clothes. Why would he think he'd could make it without someone else to help? Obviously why he asked me..._Alise continued to make excuses for the knot forming in her stomach, the same nagging feeling from before, as she found and made her way down the declining path to the slums. _Have I even done anything worth mentioning in the three years since I've left Nordopolica? I've barely managed to keep gald in my purse as it is. And him, Ray... I haven't even the slightest idea where he might be..._

He made a bad choice in asking me.

Thoughts of _him_ always brought her back to the real world, where she happened to find herself standing at the base of a giant fountain in the Lower Quarter. Alise didn't even realized she had stopped at all. She sat on the edge of the fountain to rest, even though she knew the inn was only a few more steps down the way.

The Lower Quarter seemed to be just as crowded as the Common Quarter, despite the sun beginning to set, and a lot more filthy. However it was nice enough that only the most discerning eye would be disgusted. People waved happily to others they knew, rushing to get home for dinner. Women carrying last minute groceries glanced at Alise as they walked past, unfazed but bemused at the sight of a newcomer. Normally travelers used the city entrance in Common Quarter to come and go, the shifty and the thrifty being the only ones to enter the Lower Quarter, looking to con or to score a cheap deal on cheap goods. Alise thought herself to be neither of those types. She was simply a traveler with little discretion to where she went. Not that it mattered anyway.

A dog approached the fountain, sniffing at Alise and then lapping at the water. The woman gave the dog a raised eyebrow. It had several scars on its body, but it was amazingly well toned. She tried to shoo the pet away with a soft wave of her hand, but it ignored her as if it was used to more dangerous things than her. A man's voice called it to attention, and the dog bounded back to its master. Alise met eyes with the man, who was perhaps twice Alise's own age with his long black hair pulled back into a ponytail. They both nodded in acknowledgement of the other, and he and the dog left in the direction of the inn.

Alise gave the encounter little thought, despite being impressed with the dog's physique, focusing her attention on a group of young boys pushing and teasing each other good-naturedly. She let her mind wander for a bit, but snapped back to attention when the boys began to run away, frightened by something.

Two men came into the view, the kind of men one could tell were trouble with a glance. They strutted up the path from the Lower Quater's city entrance, weapons strapped to their bodies in plain sight, their clothes dirty and worn from traveling. They were looking around, smirking in dark arrogance. At each of their heels was a monster, scraggly and vicious looking wolves native to a different continent. The beasts seemed to follow in their masters' footsteps, growling then sneezing at the citizens as they gawked at them.

Alise watched them walk past her through narrowed eyes. "Beast Legion..." She muttered, recognizing the emblem on the back of their vests as the same of the men she had met in Cados. They were nothing like the others, though. The man, Lawrence, and his men were there to help, ready to lend a hand. These two were there to hurt, ready to do a number of nasty things Alise did not want to think about.

They stopped by an unfortunate vegetable merchant's stand. The merchant backed up as they approached, frightened eyes on the monsters instead of the men. The bigger of the two men laughed scornfully.

"Hell, what a warm welcome y'all are givin' us!" The big one elbowed the other, who laughed as well. "Come on now, this guy's a native of here! He should getting a parade or something for his grand return home."

The other man grinned. "Oh yeah. Some free food will do me a lot of good." He grabbed an ear of corn and tossed it in the air, catching it. The wolves seemed to laugh under their breath.

Out of the crowd came a man with a curly mess of brown hair and clenched fists. A sheathed sword was fastened around his waist, but he showed no signs of wanting to use it. "Excuse me," he said in an authoritative manner, yet he looked no different from the other citizens of the Lower Quarter. "You need to leave, back the way you came."

The men from Beast Legion looked to each other, then back to the brown haired man. The smaller one scoffed threateningly. "Leave? Why in Hell do you think we'd leave?"

The brown haired man motioned to the monsters. "Monsters aren't allowed inside the Capital, even if this is the slums. This is for the safety of our people, to make sure that your-"

The big one interrupted with a scornful laugh. "For your _people_, eh? They don't look like people ta me... Just scum who don't know who they're _dealing with!_" He grabbed the brown haired man by the shoulders and shoved him down, standing over him.

The witnesses around them gasped, moving to in some way interfere. Even Alise shot up from her seat to do something. The brown haired man scrambled to his feet, unsheathing his sword and gripping it tightly in both hands in front of him. The men pulled out their weapons, the aer surrounding them visibly darkening. The monsters snarling at their master's heels jumped to strike.

A blast of azure light ripped through the air, slamming into the two beasts. Then a blur of blue fur flipped in the air, knocking the men into each other. The mens' auras flickering, their weapons sliced through the air to attack the dog. A flurry of sparks and the screech of clashing metal raked at the ears, the man dressed in black parried the mens' blows singlehandedly. The blade span in the air before being thrust down into the ground. A shockwave spewed forth, knocking the men and the wolves down for the count.

The Beast Legion drones started to get back on their feet, the darkish aura around them flickering in and out of existence. The man's dog swept the two off their feet and onto their backs with a whip of his tail. The injured wolves snarled as they too tried to get back up, but the man kicked them aside as he strides over the men, his sword pointed down at their necks.

Alise finally had time to blink. The fight was over in an instant. Alise took a breath, letting her fists unclench and her body relax. If anything she felt embarrassed that she even thought she could help. Before she could tell that there was more to the dark-haired man than meets the eye, but she underestimated him. Last time she would ever do that.

Some moments afterward, the sound of clinking metal entered the square. The man stepped away from the downed men, the dog at his heels, and joined the crowd. A small squadron of knights rushed in and stopped at the defeated party. The vegetable vendor from before quickly explained what had happened, curiously leaving out the fact that the man in black was responsible.

One of the knights glanced into the crowd, eyes set on the dark haired man. The man gave a wave as the dog at his heels yawned.

The same knight seemed to shake his head and picked the men up, taking their hands behind their backs. The wolves tried to attack the knights, but they were quickly struck dead. A knight cleared the town square of the corpses as they others marched off with the criminals. "At least he didn't just kill them this time," Alise thought she heard a knight mutter as they passed.

Eyebrows raised, Alise glanced over to where the fight had taken place. The crowd was beginning to disperse, but several people crowded around the man and his dog thanking them. The dog was loving the congratulatory belly rub the group of boys gave him, and the man was shaking his head and putting up his hands to refuse the vendor's offering.

Alise found herself smiling a bit at the sight. It was good to know the man wasn't merely showing off his sword skills but honestly trying to help. She set her pack onto her shoulder and tried to slip past the crowd and head down to the inn. As she past she could hear the man's voice as he talked the to man with brown hair.

"Good job on stepping in when you did, Ted."

"Pheh, like anything I did actually worked..."

Alise had walked too far to hear anymore of the conversation, but her mind was already on other things. _This is why Gordon should just stay at home. With my current luck, he could get sucked into a number of things if he keeps following me around..._ Alise stopped in front of the inn and took a breath, her hand pressed up against the door. _Just watch though, one day I'm going to run out of these excuses..._ She pushed open the door and went inside.

* * *

"I'm such an idiot." Gordon muttered closing his bed room door behind him. The room was dark as the curtains were drawn, blocking out the usual lights of Zaphias at night. He wanted it dark. It was easier for him to vent when even he couldn't see himself flail around like some possessed child, and he did just that.

He began furiously pacing the room, pumping his fists up and down and breathing through his teeth. "Why do I try?" He whispered fiercely. "Why? Nothin' ever works out, why expect it to now? I should have just waited. I shouldn't have said _anything_. I was rushing, which was a _stupid_ idea. I wouldn't even say 'Yes' to me! How could I expect Dad, or even Alise, to let me go? Dumb idea, horrible execution, terribl- ACK!"

In a flash of pain Gordon clutched his freshly stubbed foot with both hands, hopping on one foot. He tripped over a nearby chair and fell face first on the side of his bed. After emitting a long and exasperated groan, Gordon rolled his head to glare at the perpetrator.

Far away on the floor from its usual stand on the desk, Gordon's thin blue weighted club lay on the floor, just waiting for him to stub his toe on it. _"Thank you. So much."_ He growled as his picked himself up, limping on his throbbing foot, and plopped himself down correctly on his bed. Each painful pulse made him grit his teeth harder, edging away at his temper.

Gordon at least knew there was something he could do about _this._ Gordon squeezed his eyes shut, taking several cleansing breaths before beginning. Mana began to sing and flow through him, filling his whole body with lightness. He then focused that energy on his foot. First the clap of executed magic, then the quiet of a mended wound. Gordon sighed in relief. He pushed up his sleeves to look at the bands of white cloth fastened around his wrists. The cloth was inscribed with all sorts of mana formulas that Gordon had painted on himself, each one he could activate (probably) if he just focused hard enough and use a spell.

"At least there's something I'm good at," Gordon muttered.

A knock sounded at his door. "Gordon?" Dawn's voice called from the other side. "You in there?"

Gordon shot up in surprise. "Y-yeah?" He called, mentally punching himself for his stupid sounding response.

"Can I come in?"

"Uuh..." The boy's head whipped from side to side. He'd have to clean the place up. "J-just a sec!" He quickly hopped onto his feet, his once throbbing foot noticeably numb, and uprighted the chair and set his club back in its stand. He turned on the electric lamp that hung from the ceiling with switch embedded in the wall and opened the door.

There stood Dawn, still in her uniform with a bulge in her apron pocket and a smile on her face. "Hey, guy." She walked past Gordon and smoothed the back of her dress before she sat down on the side of his bed. Gordon moved to sit down on the chair he knocked down earlier, but Dawn patted the space next to her on the bed. A knot twisted in Gordon's stomach as he nervous took the offered seat.

Dawn's hands twisted in her lap as she spoke. "How've you been? You seemed really distracted during dinner. I even tried to make your favorite, even though I _did_ burn it..."

"What? No, it was great!" Gordon lied through his teeth, and he knew that Dawn knew it too. The ugly smell of charred pork discouraged his appetite, but that didn't stop him from eating as much as he could, washing down every sour bite with many glasses of water at a time. At the time he was also hoping the charred dinner would put him out of his misery...

Dawn chuckled. "Thanks, Gordon. But don't change the subject on me. I could tell you weren't at one hundred percent during dinner."

Gordon looked away from Dawn, huffing. "Great, can't even be subtle about it either."

"Since when are you subtle at anything?" She teased, elbowing him in the ribs. That got him laughing a bit, and Dawn continued. "See, I just _happened_ to overhear what was going on in the parlor earlier. Are you okay now?"

Gordon shook his head, sighing. "I guess so, but I'm still beating myself up about the whole stupid thing. I shouldn't have brought Alise here at all, then I wouldn't have embarrassed myself like that..."

Dawn's armed wrapped itself around Gordon's shoulder, pulling him in to rest his head on her. "I don't think you embarrassed yourself. I thought you made a very good case about it!"

"You weren't there," Gordon blushed.

"Yeah, I was. I just happened to overhear, remember? If anything it was that _Alise_ chick's fault, walking out on you like that." Her voice soured as she ventured into the new subject. "I was at the door when she come strutting through, so I tried changing her mind, but she just blew me off like she did you, saying, _'He doesn't _know_ what he wants yet.'_ As if she's been inside your head."

Gordon couldn't help but laugh a bit. Dawn did have a bit of a temper, but she never meant half the things she would complain about. "I wouldn't say she blew me off. And she's right, I'm only fifteen. I shouldn't be running around the world like some wannabe knight. I should just stay home..."

Dawn didn't say anything for a few moments. "... Do you still want to go though?"

Gordon looked up at Dawn suspiciously, sitting up on his own. He asked tentatively, "What do you mean?"

"I mean, Do you still want to go? It's one thing to feel stupid about what happened, but what do you want right now?"

Gordon didn't think about that until now. How did he feel? Sure he felt like an idiot for even thinking of asking, but something inside of him wanted that adventure. To run around like a wannabe knight, helping people... He looked to the club on its stand. He had bought it some months ago and was practicing with it, making sure he could wield it just in case he'd get the chance to actually _need_ to use it. It would have seemed a waste to let it continue to sit there...

"Well," he started, collecting all the thoughts he had up to this point. "I know that if I'm ever going to help anyone, I need to learn how to take care of myself, and in order to do that I need to get away from the people I've depended on for so long. I mean, how can I stand up for anything if I can't even keep myself up on my own? Thing is, I basically asked Alise to help me help myself. It sounds stupid and counterproductive when you put it that way..."

Dawn bobbed her head up and down in agreement. "A bit, yeah... But hey, I've been thinking. Alise is basically a mercenary. Mercenaries work for money, so..." She reached into her apron pocket and pulled out a tied bag. She didn't say anymore, letting the chime of the gald coins do the talking as she shook it playfully.

Gordon stared wide-eyed from the bag to Dawn's smirking face. "Where'd you get that?" He worried she might have stolen it from somewhere.

"Don't worry about it. I got it from the birthday money my sister gave me a couple of months back. Donna told me to make sure I use it wisely, so _you_ are going to use it as payment for Alise to let you tag along!"

"O-oh, I can't, what about Dad? He already said no... Well he didn't right out say it but-"

Gordon quickly shut up when Dawn grabbed his chin and gave it a little shake. "You worry too much! You have the chance to go on the adventure of a life time, and you're worried about having _Daddy's_ permission!" Her eyes sparkled mischievously as she let go of Gordon. "Here's a the plan. Early tomorrow morning, you'll sneak out of the house and go find Alise. I did some snooping in the Lower Quarter and found out she's spending the night at the inn, so head down there as fast as you can.

"The Lieutentant has a meeting in early afternoon, so if he tries to visit, I'll say you're still feeling down and just wanted to sleep in. Being the doting little daddy he is, he'll want to respect your wishes as some form of apology to you so he won't be back until late in the evening. By that time, you should be at Deidon Hold or beyond with Alise, and I'll just keep covering for you until that evening, which by then it would just be suspicious if I kept making things up. This way you'll be home free for a long while before he can try to catch up!"

Gordon was now very afraid for Dawn's sanity. "How long did it even take you to think this scheme?"

She shrugged. "'Bout an hour. And if Alise doesn't play along, then just come home, and it would be as if we'd have never spoken."

Now Gordon was afraid for his own sanity. The last half of the plan didn't sound that bad... "I think you're craziness has rubbed off on me..."

"Good! You're ready for this then. What was the adventurer who didn't take a risk every once in a while?" The smile on Dawn's face fell in an instant. She looked reluctantly back down to the bag of gald in her lap, gripping it in her hands. "The one bad thing about this plan is I'm going to miss you..." She turned back to Gordon, her eyes softened from their earlier mischievous glint, smiling in spite of herself.

Gordon could only look nervously back at her, swallowing down the words he wanted to say. _I'll miss you too..._ A flash of recollection, and his hand jumped to his neck. "Your necklace," he whispered, fumbling to remove it.

Dawn put a hand over his, which made Gordon's heart jump. "Keep it. I bet it'll help a lot." She scooted in a bit closer, and hugged him tightly. Gordon could do little else but gingerly rest his head on Dawn's shoulder, knowing this would be the last time he would be able to talk with her in a long time...

"You're going to do great. I know it." After one last squeeze, Dawn held him at arm's length and looked him in the eyes. "And you've always been like a brother to me. Remember that, okay?"

Gordon was still a little stunned by the whole thing, so he nodded stiffly. "Okay. Thanks Dawn."

Her face lit up again. She picked up the bag of gald and put it into Gordon's hand, patting it. "Anytime, little bro." With that Dawn got up from the side of the bed and opened the door. She gave once last encouraging smile over her shoulder and shut the door behind her.

After a moment of letting this all soak into his mind, Gordon chuckled, shaking his head and looking back down to the bag in his hand. He rubbed the coins through the cloth and muttered, "Like a brother, huh? Great. I kinda hoped she would have figured it out by now..." Gordon surprised himself with how okay he was with not knowing. "I guess it's better off this way."

He turned his gaze to the club which thankfully still rested in its place. Gordon set the bag down on his bed and stood up. He picked up the weapon with both hands, gripping its handle to get a feel for its weight. He hadn't picked it up in a while, so he figured he would need to practice some before he would leave in the morning. Making room, he swung it through the air as if he was bringing it down on some viscous monster's head. He practiced so that he could attack and then jump away to a safer distance. That would give him a better chance to maybe cast a healing arte, or at least get another hit in.

_I know what I'm doing is selfish,_ Gordon thought as he continued his practice, _but this is what I need to do. Dad... Thank you for always being there. Now I need to make my own way. I_ need _this. In fact it's your example that drives me. Always be there for another. Never give up. Sure, there are lots of things I'm still scared of, but I know that because of you I won't be a just a kid for long..._

Gordon brought all his strength down in a powerful blow, smashing the head of the club into the floor. "Soon," he breathed, "I'll be a _knight._"

* * *

"Excuse me, miss." The knight took one step to the right, blocking Alise's path. There wasn't much room on the walkway that lead from the Lower Quarter to the outside world, so Alise had to stop. "I'm sorry for deterring you, but I'm supposed to inform you that if you venture too far into the plains you cannot not expect the protection of the knights. If that is not what you want, than feel free to remain in the city until we can arrange an escort for you."

She sighed. _These knights are always so pushy. He's probably here because of that fiasco from yesterday._ "Yes, I'm aware of the consequences. I drop my rights to the protection of the knights."

The knight nodded and stepped out of the way. "Good travels to you then."

Alise muttered a thank you and continued on her way. This was just one little bump along the way. She had to go through the same treatment every time she left an Imperial city or town. _At least they're diligent about this, but I wonder how useful their escorts are. I hope they've gotten better over the past twenty years..._

Small squads of knights, probably rookie ones, were stationed around the perimeter of the capital. They took care of the monsters that tried to enter the area, so Alise had little to do but make her way to the bridge that connected the inlet of land Zaphias was built on to the mainland. It was just a bit past morning. The sun shone in her face from its place in the sky, which made Alise unaware if anyone was following after her. She had her suspicions though.

Once Alise had taken a few steps across the bridge, her suspicions were confirmed. She stopped and turned around, and there he was, Gordon Brune, wearing a carrying belt with a thin blue club dangling at his left hip. He stood several feet away from her, blinking at her guiltily. Alise kept his gaze, half ready to give up and half waiting for him to make the next move. What followed was a standoff, the woman in red and the boy in blue faced each other unmoving.

Finally, Alise sighed in defeat and beckoned him over with a wave of her hand. He came, and Alise leaned herself against the side off the bridge. "You sure are a stubborn one," Alise said flatly.

Gordon didn't respond. Instead he reached into a pouch on his carrying belt and pulled out a small satchel of gald. He held it out to her, and she took it. It was probably a little less than five hundred gald in all. _So he's trying to buy me out now?_ Alise shook her head in resignation, then looked back up to Gordon. "What is this?"

Gordon stood stock straight, fists in balls at his side. "It's uh, in case you still needed some persuading."

Alise groaned quietly and turned her head to the side, eyes closed. _Stubborn but determined. That's always a bad sign, isn't it?_ She looked back at him and stood up, towering over him. "_Why_ are you still here, following me? Do you even know what would happen to you if you do? Trust me, trying to get by on the road will never be as cushy as home, or even if you were to go on another of your little excursions with the Knights. When you're at home, you at least _know_ what you'll be getting yourself into."

Gordon simply nodded, a grim but knowing look on his face. It seemed he had been thinking more about this than she was giving him credit for. In fact Alise noticed darkish circles under his eyes, as if he had spent another night thinking nonstop.

"Alise," he at last spoke, taking a breath. "If you want, you can say no. I'll understand..."

"No, it's not just that, it's... It's really about what you want." She didn't like what she felt had to say next, but to Gordon, he was already on that ship to a new continent, leaving all he ever knew behind him.

Alise sat back down, making herself eye level with Gordon. She asked slowly. "Are you sure this is what you want to do?"

Gordon stood up a little straighter, as if he knew that question's significance. "It's..." He hesitated before he continued. "It's the only thing I want to do."

Immeadiately Alise closed her eyes and lowered her head. She hid the smile she couldn't stop from coming. At last she looked up again, not caring to hide it. "Alright then." She stood up, and continued her path across the bridge, waving her hand above her head. "Let's get moving."

She didn't stop, but Alise waited to hear it. Eventually hurried footsteps clammered after her, slowing and falling in time with her own. When she glanced behind her, he was there, looking up at her in part wonder, confusion, worry, and excitement.

Alise didn't really know how she felt about this. This was different from all the other jobs she had taken on, but then again this wasn't really like a job. Work was work. This was... something different. Gordon was her responsiblity now. She had to make sure he didn't get into too much trouble.

Alise looked up to the sky and sighed, but it was different this time. It wasn't in annoyance she did so, it was something happier than that. It was excitement, not exasperation. She was looking forward to what may come. She still had her worries, her nagging feelings in the pit of her stomach, but all that told her was big things were at work. Something was set into motion that couldn't be stopped now. She could only wait to see what would come.

* * *

THERE '^'

IT'S FINISHED

You happy now? 'Cause I am X3 Hopefully you enjoyed reading it as much as I did writing it. The next one might actually come in before next month in fact! Maybe, we shall see~ FYI though, while naturally Alise and Gordon would have to travel through Deidon Hold to get to Halure, I'm going to just say now that they traveled straight through, gives me less to write about on the next one =P

Plus I have skits again~ Copy/Paste the link below, fix up the URL a bit and enjoy~  
fanfiction net/s/5981212/2/Skits_of_Dilucia

AND for the losers with Facebook, follow this link if you want to keep up with my progress! XD  
facebook com/#!/pages/Tales-of-DiluciaFanfic/154875407862141


	7. Chapter 6: One Thing After Another

HUZZAH! Along with this being updated, I am on break from College! Yippee~

On another note, I had this weird dream the other night. I was playing Soul Calibur 3, where I have the Dilucia gang as custom characters, and I was choosing Alise to fight as. Y'know how when you start a match, the Narrator guy says a thing? Well Usually for custom character they get some generic thing, but Alise got this little diddy:

_**"Fighting for the fate of an old friend, Hers and the fates of others entangles with the world's."**_

It's accurate too! I love my brain~ Anyway, here's chapta 6, where shiz FINALLY gets real.

"~"~"~"~"~"~"~"~"~"~"~"

Chapter 6: One Thing After Another

Alise's once shoulder laden pack now dangled from her hand. It hung low to the ground, becoming covered in the dirt being kicked up by her feet. She could feel the layer of dust and sweat that coated her arms and face. The sun stretched out the shadows of the evening across the plains, working like a sundial to tell Alise that they needed to go faster if they wanted to get to Halure by nightfall. The day was beginning to wear on her, but she figured that Gordon was possibly in worse condition.

Alise glanced back to Gordon. He stared straight ahead, slightly hunched with his mouth agape in exhaustion. His dragging feet kicked plenty of dust that created a large trailing cloud that twisted as it rose through the air.

It looks like it's going to be a while before he gets used to life like this. Alise frowned in sympathy. I don't know how cushy he had it with the Knights, traveling in such a small group takes a toll on you. Especially if the group is so small that it's only you and the voices in your head.

"Hey, Gordon," said Alise. Gordon looked up in response. "You shouldn't kick up so much dust. You could attract some unwanted attention from the monsters."

"What? Uh, sure..." Gordon stopped his zombie walk and tapped his left calf with the top of his right foot, knocking some of the dirt from the bottom of his shoe. He repeated the process with his other leg. "Do monsters really show up just 'cause a cloud of dust?"

Alise shrugged matter-of-factly. "They'll attack because of pretty much anything. They are dangerous, but they're also very temperamental."

Gordon gave Alise a look of surprise. "Really? I guess I could see that... They do seem to just pop out of nowhere then charge us..."

"And that's why we need to always stay alert."

"I-I know that..."

"That's good then." Alise jerked her head to the crest of the hill they were climbing, bringing her dangling pack back up to her shoulder. "I was in this area not too long ago, so if I'm right Halure should be close. We can get there by sunset if we keep up this pace."

"Aw, good!" Gordon's shoulders relaxed and he let out a long overdue sigh. "I'm so tired I'm surprised I've made it this far."

Alise gave him a curious look. "Then why did you insist we keep going when we were at Deidon Hold? There was a place to rest there."

Gordon's lips tightened. "I wasn't tired then. Plus that place always has knights, which means that no one would need our help there, 'cause they're there. But the people in Halure could need help right now, so I could help, or something..."

"You're not going to be of much help if you're exhausted though."

The boy's face flashed with embarrassment, but he looked away stubbornly. "Yeah, that- No, nevermind. Let's just go." Gordon started marching up the hill ahead of Alise without looking back.

"Sure, sure..." Alise shook her head wryly.

She started on after Gordon, and the two soon quickly made it to the top of the hill, Halure's pink blossomed behemoth standing out like a lighthouse on the coastline. The two's speed increased dramatically as soon as it came into view, and just as night fell they made it into town.

Pink petals perpetually fluttered through the air, covering the grassy ground of the town. Not many people were out of their homes at this time of day, but the town was not deserted. Gordon walked ahead and stopped in the middle of the town, looking up at the large tree. "Heh, that's so cool!"

Alise walked past him, heading to the inn. "Come on. We're supposed to be exhausted right?"

"Huh? Yeah, but we should go find the shop first!"

Alise stopped and turned around. "Why?"

"You're always supposed to go the shop first when you enter a town. Then we walk around and see what the locals say, then we go to the inn." Gordon stopped to let Alise respond, but she just stared at him, unamused. "What? Isn't that how it's always done? You walk around, talk to people, then you help them."

"You've heard way too many stories, Gordon." Alise said flatly. "You can go and do all that if you want, but I'm headed to the inn."

Gordon watched in confusion as Alise started walking off. "Wait, what? Oh fine..." He followed after her, glancing for a moment at the shop keeper who was closing up. "Guess we're too late anyway..."

~"~"~"~"~"~"~"~"~"~"~"~"~"~

The two had rented a room for a night, and soon enough morning came. As much as Alise like to sleep in when there was nothing she had to do, she found herself waking up earlier than she wanted to. She tired to fight it. She kept her eyes shut and made her thoughts as boring as she could manage. She rolled on her side. She rolled the other way. Nothing seemed to work, and she soon found herself staring at the ceiling in frustration.

Alise glanced to the other bed in the room, where Gordon appeared to be sleeping. His head was buried under his pillow as if his life depended on it, but he was quiet and still.

Alise sighed and looked at the ceiling for a time longer, finally deciding that if she couldn't sleep, she might as well act awake. Sitting up and stretching, Alise took note of the time. It was probably sometime around mid morning, as the outside didn't have that cool and fresh feel to it as it would earlier nor was it full of the energy of activity. However with Halure everyone would already be up and about and making use of the day.

Alise stood up and walked over to the window of the room, which gave a nice view of the Great Tree. The sun poked through the leaves, sending an intricate webs of shadows all along the ground. At the base of the tree a group of young children played as an elderly couple watched. Alise smiled tiredly and leaned her arms against the window sill and closed her eyes, letting the sun warm her face.

Her thoughts suddenly turned to what Gordon had said yesterday. She looked back to him over her shoulder. He was still scrunched up for safety underneath his pillow. _I wonder where he got that idea about running around the town just looking for favors to be done._ She thought. _He must have heard too many stories from those knights, but he was right about going to the store. _

Alise, still thinking, walked over to where her pack lay at the foot of her bed._ I wasn't expecting him to come along, and I don't have enough items for two people. _She reached down and set the pack on the bed. _I should be able to head down, buy what we need and be back before he even knows it._

She also sat down and put on her boots, leaving the greaves on the floor. She was only going to be down there for a short amount of time, so she didn't bother to tie them around her boots or even put on her gloves. She did however fish out a piece of paper and a pen from her pack and scribbled down a note:

_Don't panic, alright? I've just gone shopping. I shouldn't be too long, so just stay put._

_-Alise_

Alise left the note on the end table, slipped the pack over her shoulder and left the room, then the inn, moving swiftly down the stairs to solid ground.

Without warning, someone bumped into her.

"Unh, sorry there." A scruffy and dirty looking man nodded to her, not making eye contact and hurriedly moving on ahead. Another similarly dirty man walked off with them.

Alise stopped in her tracks, staring at the men's backs as they moved farther and farther away. "No way..." she muttered. Beast Legion. "Again? Here?" Shaking her head, she watch them go, slowly starting to follow them. She scolded herself for not thinking about her actions, but still she followed, making sure she stayed a fair distance away as the two turned in towards the shop.

The men talked with the shopkeeper for a few moments, throwing a sack of what she assumed to be gald on the counter. The man looked down in surprise at the sack, and tried to interject, but one of the men leaned forward. Alise couldn't see what he did, but the shopkeeper showed signs of fear, before nodding quickly and leaving the counter. Moments later, the keeper appeared with several large and heavy-looking sacks. The men took them, and left the store front, making a beeline for the town exit.

Alise watched them leave, suspicions burning inside of her. As the coast was clear Alise went to the shop front. "Hey," she greeted the shopkeeper. From what she could tell he was still caught by surprise by the two men. "I just saw that. What just happened?"

The shopkeeper let out a breath, slightly shaking his head. "Cleaned me out, that's what. They dropped off a load of gald, and demanding pretty much everything I have. I'm just glad the next shipment is supposed to come soon, but I'm afraid I'd have to close up shop until then."

Alise frowned. "I see..." She turned her back and leaned against the counter, her eyes staring off where the men had disappeared. "At least you got some gald in for it..."

"That's true. You didn't need anything, did you?"

Alise shook her head. "No..." An idea flashed through her mind, an unnatural one at that. "Actually... Do me a favor..." Without waiting for a reply Alise slipped her pack off of her shoulder and set it on the counter. "Watch this for me." With that she walked straight through the town gate, quickly finding the men in the distance.

She couldn't believe she was doing this. Her, of all people. She always thought herself to the kind to leave things that didn't concern her be, but here she was, following the two men into what looked like a nearby thicket of trees. Two men would never need that many items just for themselves. Alise had also seen enough of Beast Legion to at least be suspicious. The first group she met seemed helpful, the second vicious. This group was a mystery, and she secretly hoped that they either stayed that way, or proved her to be a fool for her suspicions.

The thicket of trees stretched out for longer than Alise had expected, the tree growing more numerous as well. She only had her ears to help her find the men, who were proving hard to track. Alise let out a breath, shaking her head at herself. She was letting herself get caught up in this. If she were to stop right now and head back-

Voices. And they were close. Alise immediately stopped in her track and ducked low behind half a bush, listening. She couldn't make out the words, but they were men's voices who greeted each other with comradery, which was enough to make Alise raise her eyebrow. The voices started to move farther away. Alise moved forward, bending over low to stay hidden. The voices were added in with more voices, and Alise stopped where she was as soon as she caught sign of a clearing.

The clearing looked like a make shift camp that was set up in a hurry. Men, and even some women, were all gathered together, talking and sharpening weapons. Some of them had monsters lazing at their sides. Alise counted them; about ten Beast Legion members and four monsters.

_That would explain all the gels and stuff they took,_ she noted. _But why are they all here? No. Stop this, you've stalked these people enough._ Alise shook her head at her self again and backed away, still crouched over and slowly rising to her full height.

"The hell?"

Alise whipped around. A man wearing a Beast Legion vest stood not two feet away from her, weapon in hand. Alise froze in her spot. The man eyed her warily, holding the sword in his hand higher. "Now where did you come from? Doesn't look like you're one of them..."

Alise's fists balled up at her sides. _One of them?_ She thought.

The man moved in carefully. Alise watched him come closer, not even fighting back when the man roughly grabbed her by the shoulder. Instead she flinched and let out a quiet whimper, hoping to have him let his guard down. She kept up the act by not even looking at him, settling for the floor below him.

To her surprise, the man seemed to sigh as he spoke. "You wandered into the wrong camp, girlie." The man started to spin her around and push her in towards the camp.

Alise wrenched the man's hand off of her shoulder and with a loud grunt and a lot of effort flipped him over and threw him into the bushes. Alise stumbled back, off balance, and rushed to take off in the opposite direction.

Breathing heavy, Alise weaved through the dense trees that surrounded her. If the others in that camp didn't hear her take cares of that man, he certainly would have called out for help by now.

Already she could hear them coming after, they took no care to be quiet. They all seemed to call out in whoops and yells, which was immediately followed by the excited cry of the monsters. She spared a glance back, seeing that three were in pursuit, with two wolf monsters leading the way. Cursing under her breath, Alise made a sharp left, hoping to throw them off.

"Gett'a!" They were catching up fast.

Alise quickly ducked behind a tree, doing her best to pick out their footfalls over her breathing. She was in a corner. There was no other way. _Closer... Closer...!_

Alise planted both hands on the ground and threw out her legs in a split. Two wolf monsters leaped over her legs instinctually, but their masters tumbled and crashed down to the ground. Another man stumbled but managed to keep himself from falling. Alise rose up to greet him with a fist to the stomach.

Doubled over, the man tried to swing his fist in retaliation. Alise grabbed it, pulling him aside and kicking him down in the back. Snarling a monster leaped at her face, fangs bared. Alise threw herself backwards, knocking the monster back with a kick as she flipped. When she righted herself, she found more of the men coming after her. She spun on her heel and bolted off in the other direction.

Alise let out a yell. Her body was pulled back. She turned to face her assaulter. A massive fist collided with her cheek, knocking her flat on her stomach. A foot crashed down on her lower back and her head was wrenched backwards by her braid. Alise bit her tounge, trying not to scream, as her eyes began to tear up in pain.

"And _that_," a man's raspy voice announced to those around him, "is how you wrangle up one of the more wilder ones you might come across."

The pressure on Alise's back increased as the man who held her captive leaned forward. "Gotta admit, you were pretty impressive for a minute there. I can't wait to see what kind of show you put on..." The man stood back up. "Hold her with the rest of them! And watch those legs of hers or she'll cause us a lot of trouble."

He let go of her hair, letting her face fall flat in the dirt. As soon as he removed his feet from her back, two others rushed in to pull and tie her hands behind her back. When they finished they pulled at her to make her stand up. Alise, head heavy with exhaustion and defeat, let them.

They led her back towards the camp, past the clear she had first saw them all in and back into the trees. Alise looked up and gasped softly.

There were people there, all of them bound like she was. They all looked up at her as she brought up next to them, confusion and surprise mixed in with the dirt on their faces. All of them were tied to two trees, as a long stretch of rope was wrapped around the trunk of the tree and each person had a rope tied from their wrists to that rope.

The men brought out even more rope, tying Alise's wrists to the rope around one of the trees. They sat her down with her back to the trunk and bound her ankles tightly together.

The man who had caught Alise walked up, the biggest of all the monsters at his side. He was short, but with broad shoulders and a long machete fastened to his side. "Good, I think we've got enough this time around. Listen up now! We'll be leaving again before daybreak, so rest up." The man snickered darkly. "You've got a long walk ahead of you..."

The three men returned to the camp, a rough looking woman taking her place to watch them. She sat down against a tree that was equidistant from and the group and started picking her nails with her dagger. She didn't even spare them all a glance.

Alise groaned quietly, rolling her eyes at herself. She turned her head to the other captives to find all of their eyes on her. Alise furrowed defensively, giving them all a look to leave her be. Most of them turned away awkwardly, but one did not. She was a woman with brown hair that was beginning to look stringy, with honest eyes.

Alise looked at her. The woman tilted her head curiously.

Suddenly Alise found herself chuckling. Shaking her head, she pressed her head against the tree bark. She muttered, "Don't ask."

"~"~"~"~"~"~"~"~"~"~"~"~"~"

Much shorter this time, which is good~ Thank you, and keep reading :D

~RaeMina


	8. Chapter 7: A Stab at Freedom

Oh hi there. Didn't see you =P So! Finally, a chapter 7 for you! Please, enjoy and R&R There's an awesome fight scene for you at the end of this!

Chapter 7: A Stab at Freedom

"So then you followed them here?" The woman with the stringy hair, who introduced herself as Millina, whispered to Alise. The others tied around the trees listened as well, even though most of them looked like they were sleeping. It had been many hours since Alise was first taken in, and now the night was thick with stars. There was still light emanating from the camp, which meant that the Beast Legion men were still there, possibly awake. The guard who was supposed to be watching them, however was fast asleep. A new one had switched with the woman who had been watching them throughout the day, and apparently didn't feel the need to stay awake.

Alise nodded in response to Millina's earlier question. She had tried to get them to leave her story with herself, but she felt ignoring her questions would be too rude considering the situation. "I did," she spoke as quietly as any of the others had dared to, as not to rouse the sleeping guard "I certainly regret it, though. I made it pretty close to their camp without being spotted, but I was captured on my way out."

"And now you're stuck here like the rest of us," said a grumpy voice behind the other tree, blocked from view. Alise couldn't see him, but she figured the voice belonged to an old man. "And look. The guard can't even bother to keep a waking eye on us." He began to mutter under his breath.

"Well, we're not really going anywhere, right?" A young boy said, who was sitting on the other side of the same tree Alise was tied to, unfortunately positioned to face the dark and shadowy mass of trees.

"Jordon, please, don't say things like that..." Millina said, wincing.

"Jordon, please," said a man barely out of sight, sitting beside Millina, also tied to Alise's tree, "don't scare your mother like that."-

"Oh come on, what's the point?" A skinny woman with a prematurely wrinkled face and high voice snapped. "I mean does any body even know what they want from us? For all we know they could be getting us ready to feed us to those monsters." The portly man, faced the same way as Alise and tied to the opposite end of the woman, winced, shutting his eyes and putting his head between his knees.

"Don't say things like that, _please!_" Millina said, giving a pleading look over Alise to the woman. Everyone but Alise shushed everyone else, trying to keep the excitement down.

"We should all take the time to stop talking, so we can each clear our thoughts," said the deep voiced man tied to Alise's tree sitting behind her.

Everyone was now silent. Alise glanced around the tree to her left to look at the man. While he wasn't muscled, he looked very strong. He even appeared to be trying to escape, as the rope that held the young family, himself, and Alise was starting to fray and dig into the bark of the tree, making a mark. It didn't seem like he could be able to cut through the tree, but maybe his given enough time he could have frayed the rope.

Alise shook her head, staring intently at a rock, trying to make sense of things. All of them were still hysterical about this, even though the strong man showed some degree of calm. Either he was here longer than all of the others, or he was newly picked up. As Alise followed her thoughts, it led her to some questions that burned at her curiosity. "Just how did all of you get captured, anyway?" She said. "And for how long have you been here?"

At first everyone was quiet, as if they were waiting for someone else to speak up first. After a moment, Millina quietly cleared her throat. "Well, my husband and I were coming to visit a friend in the capital. We've lived in Aurnion for some years now and we wanted Jordon to be able to see more of the world than just our little town. We've been here in Illycia for a week when we thought it would be nice to go and see Halure's tree. So we made the preparations to go, but as we were leaving we were head off, and they took us..."

"I shouldn't have suggested this," Millina's husband said suddenly. His head was downcast, not wanting to make eye contact with anyone "We should have stayed in the capital, then none of this would have happened."

"Andrew, no, this wasn't your fault..."

"I'd say it is," The crabby woman blurted out. "It's a dangerous place out here even _without_ these men snatching travelers from the roads. Even when you think you're safe they come out and over power you."

The portly man spoke up, his voice cracking. "I'm just a merchant. What use would I be to them? It's not that I could get goods for them and I'm certainly not a good fighter. I couldn't even try to defend myself without hurting myself in the process!"

"_Quiet, everyone!_" The grumpy old man said in a rough whisper. "I hear footsteps."

Everyone went silent, now wary of the shuffling of leaves as someone approached. Two members of Beast Legion emerged from the woods in front of Alise, not from the direction of camp, as she would have expected. What was more confusing was what they were carrying. It looked as if a body was slung over the bigger of the men's shoulder.

The big man stopped at a vacant spot in the makeshift prison to the immediate left of Alise and lowered the body to the ground, sitting it up against the tree. The body was male, and looked to be no older than Alise was. At first she was revolted that Beast Legion would be so morbid as to keep random corpses with their captives, but then she saw it.

He was breathing. He even seemed to open his eyes for a moment, but that wasn't right. The young man shifted his position, settling in as if he was deciding to take a nap of all things, and released a long sigh. He didn't move much after that.

The big man scratched his head. "Bloody Hell, he's still asleep?" For an instant he glanced down at Alise, who glanced away nonchalantly.

"Eh, leave him be." The other man held up a belt that held both a long sword and a dagger in scabbards. "It's not like he can do anything now that we've got his weapons."

The big man chuckled. "Still kills me that he's out cold. We didn't even have to do anything, just pick him up and go! Oh, speaking of which..." He took out some rope and tied the young man up like everyone else was.

The other man was already over by the watchman, who also hadn't stirred awake yet. "Oi!" The man kicked him in the leg. The watch woke up with a start "Get up, you idiot. Your watch is done."

The watch did as he was told, standing up and stumbling off to the main camp, where no doubt he was asleep within a minute. The man who woke him up took his spot, leaning against a nearby tree with crossed arms and scary eyes. The big man left to stay in the main camp as well, leaving the watch to do his duty.

_This hardly makes sense..._ Alise frowned as she thought. _The way they work and how flippant they are with all of this, it's absurd that these guys are really a threat. But still, they're kidnappers at best, and some of them are straight up thugs. What are they up to, really?_

With the new and vigilant watch in place no one could talk, so the silence grew thick over the woods once again.

Alise looked the new comer over. Brown hair tied into a short and low ponytail, black sleeveless shirt to show off broad shoulders, a pale orange jacket that hung low around his elbows. He certainly looked distinctive compared to all the other travelers Alise has seen in her time.

Unbidden, Alise let out a yawn. A glance around her told her that everyone else was trying to get some rest, and she felt it best to get some herself. _It's not like we're all going anywhere, at least not until the morning when they're moving us some..._

Alise blinked to find three hours had passed. After a few seconds to shake off her confusion she groaned, hoping to get more sleep than that. She didn't even realize she was that tired. Having that one moment of rest made wishing she could have more, but she had to figure out how to get free first.

Everyone was still asleep, as they should, and she wasn't surprised to hear worried mumblings from a few of them. Alise even thought she heard a soft and quiet, "Sorry," coming from behind her tree. She attributed it to the young father, feeling a quick sting of sympathy for him.

A few minutes passed, and even though she tried sleep eluded her. Yawns came readily, however. _Great, this is nice. _Real _nice. Now I kind of wish I was that new guy, being able to sleep through being picked up, thrown down, then tied to a tree. Actually, that doesn't sound so nice when you put it that way but- Wait. Did he just move?_

As if by fate, the young man suddenly stirred. His once limp head rose up to life, as he stared straight ahead through squinted eyes. A minute passed. He turned his head to the left, toward the now sleeping watchman. He halfheartedly tried to stand up, but was tugged back to his seat by the ropes. All the while his dazed expression never leaves his face.

Then something in his mind clicked. The young man groaned audibly. "What a _hassle..._" He grumbled.

Alise looked at him in surpise. _The first thing out of his mouth..._ She mused.

His head rolled back to return Alise's gaze and for a long moment the two just looked at each other, each thinking about nothing in particular.

"Who are you?" The young man eventually asked, a dull look on his face.

Alise hesitated to answer at first. "...Someone stuck in a situation she never really wanted to enter to begin with."

"Huh. That's a long name to remember," he said dryly, taking a moment to glance around him once again and back to Alise. "My name is Zeke. Do you have a nickname or something, Someone Stuck in a Situation She Never Really Wanted to Enter to Begin With?"

Alise gave him an unamused look. "It's Alise, okay?"

Zeke nodded and repeated her name under his breath. "Alright Alise, where are we?"

Alise took a moment to think. "Somewhere in the Quoi woods."

"And who are these other people?"

"Fellow captives."

"And our captors would be...?"

"A guild called Beast Legion."

At last a reaction. Zeke's eyebrows arched in pleasant surprise. "Good. That saves me plenty of time looking for them."

Alise gave him a confused look, hoping he would explain, but beside her Millina stirred. The woman leaned forward to get a look at Zeke. It didn't seem like she had just woken up. Alise wondered just how long she had been awake.

"Ah, good." Millina smiled. "I was getting worried you might never wake up."

Zeke gave a slight nod. "Don't worry about me. I always wake up eventually."

"So you always sleep that soundly?" said Alise.

"Yeah, I do. It comes in handy more often then you'd think."

Alise lowered her voice to a rough whisper. "I have a hard time believing that... If my asumption's correct, you fell asleep in the woods then taken then tied up! And you wake up only now several hours later?"

Zeke lowered his voice to match hers, unphased. "And by doing so I found Beast Legion. I also confirmed that they have been kidnapping people to use somewhere. I haven't gotten that far in the rumors yet."

Millina asked, "Rumors? Where did you hear of those?"

"Around." Zeke shrugged. "Doesn't matter now. We need to break out."

At this utterance, the other captives seemed to burst into life: "Break out? You mean..." "How would we go about doing that?" "Who is this kid?" "Good luck with that!" "Wait, who's talking?" "Face it, it's hopeless-"

Alise shushed them all, glancing to the watchman. He stirred slightly, but he was clearly asleep. She let out a breath, then faced Zeke. "You think you can break us all out?" Zeke nodded. "How then?" He shrugged. Alise mentally smacked her palm to her face.

It took some time, but eventually a plan did form amongst the captives, with Zeke, Alise, and the strong man who identified himself as Jame being the star players. Beast Legion had mentioned that sometime before dawn they were going to move out somewhere, picking everything up and leaving no trace. The plan for the captives was to catch Beast Legion off guard by starting a fight. The aim was to find some way to cut the ropes tying them all together and knock out as many guards as they could as to make their escape. The only set back was it was going to be three against thirteen(including the monsters Beast Legion had with them), but it was the only chance they had before they were all taken even farther from their homes.

Until then all there was to do was rest up and wait. Some tried to sleep, Zeke actually managed to doze off for a long time, but Alise felt she couldn't. She couldn't stop thinking about how this plan was actually supposed to work. It seemed more like it wasn't even a plan at all, just a random bid at freedom that any reckless idiot could have attempted. Prehaps the only difference was Alise wasn't a reckless idiot. Would that help at all though?

It didn't seem that long before the time dawn hadn't even come, yet the camp had started to come to life, with the beast tamers laughing and talking as cleared out. One by one the men came into the grove Alise and the others were being kept, standing around while they waited for the order. Soon enough each captive was awake, even Zeke who needed some nudging and mocking from Beast Legion.

The leader of Beast Legion stood akimbo in front of the captives, surveying them. "Make sure they're all awake," he said to the others. "We have to get moving now, so no delays. Come on, let's move!"

Half of the members huddled around Alise and the other captives, leaving those tied up with Zeke alone for now. One of the men cut the rope tied to the tree, yelling to have everyone stand up. All of their hand and ankles were bound together, so really they were all pulled from their seats. Then the five of them(Jame, Andrew, Jordan, Millina, and Alise) were cut free from each other, so that their hands and feet were still bound, but the rope no longer tied them to each other.

"Cut just their feet free, except the red-head," Their leader barked. "She's been known to cause trouble."

_This is bad,_ Alise thought. _I'm supposed to be the one to start the escape, how can I do that when I'm tied up? At least they didn't tie my hands around my back._ Alise glanced over to Zeke, who met her eyes for only a second before looking elsewhere again. That milisecond was enough to tell her that he expected her to try anyway.

Once the others' legs were freed, their leader ordered them to be escorted to the outside of the forest. What was waiting for them, Alise had no idea. She was still stumbling for an idea.

First Jordan was led off, then his father, then Jame. As Millina was led away, she looked back to Alise in earnest. Alise bit the inside of her lip. _Nothing left to lose._

The last of the men reached for Alise. Instead, Alise grabbed _his_ wrist and pulled down sharply, then brought her hands up to smash into his cranium. She let go as he stumbled backwards. Alise saw that the leader was calling out and reaching to grab her. Alise twisted out of the way, falling on her back. The leader went after her. She brought up her feet and kicked him, hard, in the crotch. He went down, and Alise threw herself back on her feet in a crouch. She reached ahead and pulled the machete out from the groveling man's belt and cut her legs free with it.

"Zeke!" Alise threw the machete towards him. Zeke ducked his head, and the end of the blade had cut the rope tying them to the tree. Without hesitation, he cut free his bound hands and feet and was on the move. The largest of the monsters leaped at him. He drove the machete into its chest and threw the corpse to the ground.

"_What the hell?_" The tamers who had taken away the other captives rushed back, weapons drawn. Hands still tied, Alise rushed them and kneed one in the gut, kicking the weapon away. As one buckled the other swung at Alise with his blade. She threw up her hands to free her bond, getting cut on the nose, then threw the man to the ground.

Zeke reached for the kicked off machete and threw it to the remaining captives, calling out to them, "Go, run, now's your chance!" He turned and sent a bolt of silver mana ripping through the air and knocking back the reinforcements. The last two captives quickly freed themselves sprinted off into the trees...

It was now two against nine; Alise and Zeke versus five men with swords, their still recovering leader, and their three remaining wolf monsters. The monsters all leaped to attack, but Zeke stepped forward and thrust his sword into the ground. Water mana poured out of the sword and shot up, hitting the monsters. Whimpering, the wolves faltered and fell to the ground. At this the men made their charge, but Alise dashed low to the ground and with a battle cry rammed into their legs. They fell yet again, and Alise tumbled to a safe distance.

Alise glanced up and tried to get farther away, but the wolves chased after her. One's teeth were fastened firmly to Alise's arm, and Alise tried to throw it off of her while getting on her feet. Another beast lunged, jaws wide and breath hot, inches away from her face. She brought up her other arm in time, and this wolf had caught her arm too. The pain in her arms was excrusiating, yet Alise managed to throw down and smash the wolf's skull against the ground. That wolf let go, dead, and Alise threw the other one off her arm. The beast rolled back onto it's feet and lunged at her again. Alise managed to dodge, and she grabbed the wolves feet as it lept and threw him against a tree. This time, the beast was down for the count.

"_Gyaaaah!_"

Alise whipped around and froze.

A blade stuck out of the tamer's back, which was all Alise could see of him. The blade _slicked_ out of existance, and the man fell. Alise watched as Zeke twisted to the side, slamming the pommel into another man's gut, then slashing him across the chest with the daggar in his other hand. With a groan the tamer fell to the floor, making it three bodies on the ground.

Alise had never seen someone kill three men so easily. Being so close to it made her... sick. Her mind buzzed for a moment, until something behind her moved. She spun around.

The tamers' leader was finally getting up. When at last he looked up and met Alise's eyes, she didn't know what to think. It was the same as those other tamers in Zaphias, where they suddenly were eveloped by some strange black aura. Just looking at it made Alise's skin crawl.

The leader seemed to growl at her, but he was really speaking words. "I couldn't wait to see what else you could do... Now I'll see it _firsthand!_"

He charged her. Alise tried to slip out of the way, but she could not dodge the fist that rammed into her stomach. Alise hacked, the air leaving her. She stumbled back, struggling to catch herself and avoid getting hit at the same time. But he kept on coming. With no blade he still managed to draw blood from his attacks. Alise's head reeled from the barrage.

Finally in a blaze of silver knocked into the big man's side, and Alise fell to the floor, shuffling to a safe distance. She watched as Zeke bought her some time.

The man's aura flickered stronger, and in a rage he threw his razor sharp fist. Zeke parried, and sword and fist sparked realistically. This continued for several blows until at last Zeke managed a side step and slashed the man down his side. The man blindly groped to grab him, but Zeke bent low and slashed again at the man's legs. Again Zeke stabbed his sword into the ground, and water mana shot up from the ground.

Zeke was a great fighter, but Alise could tell they were hardly laying a scratch on him. As she slowly got back to her feet, he head buzzing so that she couldn't think. Without much thought she slowly walked forward, then faster, then at a run she grabbed both of the man's arms, pulled them behind him and shoved him forward. Zeke moved out of the way, and Alise kept pushing him forward. With cry she smashed the man face first against the trunk of a large tree and slammed her foot into his spine with all her might.

She heard the crack, and with a groan the man's arm lost their taught. Alise froze, unsure of what had just happened. Slowly she lowered her foot and let down the man's arms. He slumped and in shock Alise let go of him completely. The man's aura flickered then died as he fell to the ground.

Alise stared down at him for what seemed like forever. She didn't look up when she heard Zeke's footsteps coming up behind her. He looked down at him as well. "Nice job," he said plainly. "He's dead."

"He is," Alise muttered thoughtfuly, "isn't he...?"

"Well better him than us." A moment of quiet, then Zeke spoke up again. "You know you're bleeding."

"Yeah." Alise didn't care that much. She was still looking down at the man that lay limp at her feet. _I... never meant ot kill him..._ She thought, _but I guess he had no intention of sparing me, right?_

"At least they left some of their medical supplies around when we surprised them. Let's loot what we can."

Alise finally looked up at the sore sight and watched at Zeke bent low and rooted through the tamer's pockets. _He killed three of those men, one right after the other, and he act as if it was nothing? Zeke doesn't even look to be as old as me, and yet..._

Zeke looked up to Alise, noticing her staring at him. "I found some gels." He tossed one to her, and she caught it without thinking. However the more she held it in her hand the weirder she felt. She let it fall from her hand and onto the ground.

"Hey, you're bleeding, remember? You need to take what you can get."

Alise gripped her hand. She tried to keep her voice steady. "How about I just leave? I haven't eaten in a day, and inn food sounds good around now."

Zeke shrugged. "If that's what you want. But I'll be following you to Halure." He stood up from his squat and turned to Alise, his arms crossed. "The one that got away still have that family... You're okay with letting them go?"

Alise gripped her hand tighter.

"...Sorry I asked."

_No, you're not._ Alise glanced beyond Zeke, swallowing her dry throat then sighing. "If you're coming, than I'm going." She walked past Zeke, not looking back to the carnage they had just made. She didn't want to be around when the monsters came to scavenge. She didn't wait for Zeke, but she heard him walking behind her, maybe even looking at the back of her head. At least that was what it felt like, but Alise didn't turn to look.


	9. Chapter 8: Call to Adventure

History has been made today. This time it only took me a couple days to update! WOOT. It prolly won't be a habit though :

I've noticed that most of my scenes start AND end with dialogue, and I'm starting to worry. Is that bad? Does it bug you guys? I see no other interesting way to start up a scene since it gets right to character interaction, but I guess I'll try to even myself out

And now that we have the VERY aloof Zeke in our midst, what shall we do? And Alise still has to go face Gordon for dissapearing all of the sudden! Ha ha =P

* * *

Chapter 8: Call to Adventure

Alise felt very much out of place when she returned to Halure. Everyone there was happy, cheerful, and most definitely not injured. She, and her slightly unwanted companion Zeke, however were covered in injuries, and Alise could tell they were being stared at as they entered. It was early afternoon by then, which meant Alise had been gone for more than a whole night.

They were first stopped by some of the knights station to guard the perimeter, asking Alise and Zeke what had happened. Zeke quickly lied that they were a guild who had just finished training in the plains. Alise didn't try to stop him; she just wanted to get to the inn. There were a certain number of things waiting for her there...

"We should stop by the shop first," Zeke said plainly, walking towards it.

Alise gave him a look, following after him. "Why? It's not like it's required for a person to run to the shop when they first enter a town."

Zeke looked back, still walking. "Yes it is. You go to the shop to restock, then talk to every person you see along the way to the inn."

Alise stared. _That's exactly what Gordon said earlier..._

They went to the shop. Alise retrieved her bag she had left there the day before while Zeke spent little time checking the stock. Eventually they made their way to the inn.

Alise entered first, and the innkeeper looked up when she did. "Spirits, it's you! What happened to you?"

Alise grimaced. "Too much. You don't happen to have any breakfast left, do you?"

The keeper ran from behind the counter and help Alise take a seat. She didn't really want one, but she let him sit her down. Zeke, not as badly injured, followed without much fuss.

"You stay right here," the keeper said, "And I'll fetch you some food and some medicine." He ran off into a back door, calling out to the other employees. Alise rolled back her head and closed her eyes, taking a breath and enjoying the break.

"ALISE?"

Alise's eyes shot open. "Oh crap," she muttered.

Gordon shot out the room and rushed down the stairs, stopping just before Alise, staring around her wildly. "There you are! Where'd you go? It's been a whole _day_ since I saw you last!"

"It's nice to see you too." Alise closed her eyes again, trying to stop a developing headache from all the yelling.

"Well, yeah, I'm glad you're safe, but why'd you run off? Some knights came by and I had to hide so they wouldn't find me, since I'd hope we'd have been gone by now."

Zeke tilted his head at Gordon. "You're being chased by the knights?"

Gordon turned to Zeke, surpise evident on his face. "Who's this?"

"His name's Zeke," said Alise, glad to see the innkeeper and others coming in with food and medicine. "He helped me find my way home."

Gordon twisted his eyebrows at Zeke, who shrugged and said, "Quoi Woods are a dangerous place, I guess."

"The Quoi Woods?" Gordon looked back to Alise. "Really, what happened?"

* * *

Alise waited to tell Gordon all that had happened to her until they were alone in their old inn room. Zeke stood with arms crossed off to the side, nodding as Alise spoke. Gordon sat on the edge of one of the beds, staring at Alise with eyebrows bouncing all around his forehead in response to the story. Alise was surprised that he remained quiet the whole time. She'd at least expected for him to mutter wildly about the insanity of what he was being told.

"...eventually we taken all of the squad out," said Alise, finishing up after ten minutes of straight talking, "including their leader, who was brute to say the least. I came straight back here, and Zeke just tagged along afterwards."

Slowly Gordon started to nod. "I can't believe you got kidnapped like that, and by who was it, a guild called Beast Legion?"

"Yeah. I have no idea what they wanted with us, though."

"I remember hearing about that guild somewhere before... I think maybe my dad ran into some trouble with them or something. To think they've turned from beast taming to kidnapping, too! It's just weird."

Zeke spoke up for the first time in a while. "Who is your dad? You mention him a lot."

Gordon sat up straight, chest puffed out. "My father is Brenton Brune, Lieutenant in the the Imperials nights."

Zeke's expression never changed. He turned back to Alise. "How much do you know about Beast Legion, Alise?"

Gordon deflated. Alise felt a little bit sorry for him. "Not much. I've only officially met them once before I met you guys. That time they seemed down right friendly, not like the thugs to kidnapped us..."

"Interesting." As he thought Zeke started to fiddle with the pommel of the sword he got as a suvenier from earlier. Alise mentally shook her head at it. "This all fits with what I've heard."

"Wait just a minute." Gordon stood up. "How much do _you_ know about this Beast Legion? And what exactly have you been hearing."

Zeke glanced up at Gordon, a bit of indignance in his eyes. "My father's in Altosk, leader of the Master Guilds. I get to hear everything. In this case I know that there have been conflicting reports of Beast Legion recently. Like Alise said, some are doing what they've been setting out to do while others are causing trouble. Reports have also started to come in from Illycia, instead of just Tolbycia. I'm investigating the particulars of these reports to see why things don't add up."

"Pft, sounds like you're quite the important person, huh?" Gordon said, slightly miffed.

Alise sighed leaning forward in her seat. "This is all too over my head. I'm glad I won't have to get involved in all of this anymore..." Alise's words were met by a weird silence. Alise looked up in surprise, and both Gordon and Zeke were giving her weird looks. "What?"

"You've already forgotten?" said Zeke.

"Forgotten what?"

"Jordon. Millina." Zeke's tone was grim. "And those others. They were taken away by Beast Legion."

Alise tensed up, choosing not to answer.

"We told them we'd help free them, remember?"

"Wait, free who?" Gordon looked from Alise to Zeke. "What's wrong here?"

"...They'll kill them, you know."

Both Alise and Gordon looked at him in shock. "What?" Alise whispered.

"Like I've said, there's been reports. People have been taken from their homes, while they've been traveling from town to town. Some would say that it's their own fault, and that they've been eaten by monsters. None of those who dissapeared have been found."

The slience was thick now.

"You mean," Gordon stuttered, "Beast Legion's been..."

Zeke simply nodded.

Alise stood up this time, fist balled at her sides. "How do you know?"

"It's too conincidental that, that many people have dissapeared at so recent a time. The only reason we haven't been able to figure out exactly what's been going on is their Guild Leader claims they have no knowledge of why this has been happening. Isn't that suspicious enough?"

"No, how do you know they'll be killed? You can't be so certain that we can actually do anything about this."

Zeke started to frown. "This is hardly a matter of certainty. The chance is there. We have to stop this from happening again."

"Well, can't we just tell the knights?" Gordon's voice was small as he spoke. "I mean, they can do so much more than we can. They've got more men, more power than we do, and..."

Zeke scoffed lightly. "The knights won't help. They're all too worried about guarding the towns so no one can leave."

"_Excuse me?_" Gordon turned on Zeke. "You have no idea what you're talking about! You've been under the guilds you're whole life! How would you know how the knights work?"

"They won't move and inch away from their post out of fear of getting toliet scrubbing duties for a week. Where in this situation do you think people like that will help?"

Gordon's face started to turn pink. "Better than what guilds do. Run off from their posts to drink or to-"

"_Stop it._" Alise barked. The two squablers stopped and stared at her in surprise. "Just stop. Now's not the time for this stupid feuding."

Gordon's face started to return to it's usual color, but his voice was still high in annoyance. "I'm just saying that we're not strong enough to take care of this on our own. If we report this to the knights-"

"They'll have to wait until the Empire will send out a unit to invesitgate. More will be dead by then." Zeke crossed his arms again. "You see? That's why we have to do something about this. Everyone else moves too slow, including the guilds," he added to Gordon.

Alise took a breath. She sat back down and closed her eyes. _This is impossible,_ she thought. _I'm involved far enough in this. I'm done._

Gordon had also sat back down on the edge of the bed, thinking hard.

Zeke continued "I know where Beast Legion would be heading. Their headquarters is on Tolbyccia, just off of Dahngrest. As long as we're on Tolbyccia we can find Millina and her family. Everyone."

"To get to Tolbyccia we would need to cross the Capua Straight," Gordon said softly without looking up.

"Actually Heliord would be faster; They have a port there now. How about it, Alise?"

Alise opened her eyes. Zeke looked at her with that same plain expression. Gordon looked at her too, true conflicion in his eyes. Alise let out a breath, then forced and small smile in spite of herself. "You hired me, Gordon. This decision is yours for you to make, not mine."

"But," Gordon didn't say much more, then looked back down to the floor. "It's too obvious a choice, I kinda don't want to be the one who makes it..." Finally he stood up, looking Zeke squarely in the eyes. "Alright, we'll go help find them. Only you have to promise we don't get too in over our heads."

Zeke shrugged. "Sounds fair enough." The mood in the room lightened, even though Alise was still sour. "We don't have much time then. Capua Nor is a couple hours walk away, and every moment we waste Beast Legion is getting farther and farther away."

"Wait, but, Alise!" Gordon defended. "She's just gotten back. We have to give her a chance to rest, right?."

Alise pushed herself to her feet, groaning as she did. "It's fine, Gordon. Once we're in Capua Nor, I can rest on the ship."

Gordon scoffed. "Well, at least you will be able to rest. I _hate_ sailing. Hate hate _hate._"

"Best to to get it overwith, then." Alise picked up her pack and slung it over her shoulder. "Let's go now, before I start to regret not staying in one place for once..."

Zeke nodded then made for the door. Gordon followed after, looking over her shoulder at Alise. She waved him on and the three descended down the stairs, ignoring the innkeeper who encouraged them to stay to rest. Alise tipped him extra for putting up with all the trouble, and they left Halure to walk through Ehmead Hill to Capua Nor.

* * *

Clouds and far away rumbling thunder filled up the sky, even as they walked through Ehmead Hill. Gordon flinched at even the slightest rumblings, but Zeke kept moving. The storm only got worse as they traveled. Alise recalled that there was supposed to be some bad weather coming around, but that was for several weeks ago. As much as Gordon wouldn't like it, it seemed they have have to go through the storm.

When they entered the port town, Alise was surprised to see that there was still plenty of activity in the docks. Even in the rain members of Fortune's Market, the merchant guild, ran from place to place to prep a large cargo ship for departure. The three entered the dock curiously.

"Good, a ship is leaving," said Zeke. "We should be able to get ourselves hired as guards. Probably."

Gordon made a face. "Those odds don't sound so good to me..."

"All we need to do is talk to the head of the expedition, convince him they'll need our help, and hope they're heading for Tolbyccia."

"That just make the odds sound even worse!"

Zeke didn't push the issue. Alise looked around in disinterest. She still wasn't sure how she felt about letting herself get into this again. The light rain put even more to damper her mood, at least until she spotted a familiar face amongst Fortune's Market: Terrence, her uncle's friend.

Terrence spotted her first. "What do you know!" He called out and approached her with a pleasent look on his face, rain and sweat matting down his usually poofy hair. "Alise, good to see you again. And so soon!"

"Terrence, it hasn't been long at all," Alise tried to return his smile.

"You know Alise?" Gordon walked up beside Alise, looking up at the newcomer curiously.

"Know her? I've known this young lady since before she was your height, Eli."

"Eli?"

Alise shook her head. "This is someone different, Terry. His name's Gordon, and that other one's name is Zeke."

"Oh, my bad; the rain makes it hard to see. It's just good to see that Alise is making friends for once."

Alise frowned. "Not this again. Just don't expect me to make a habit out of this."

Terrence laughed heartily, wiping some rain out of his eyes. "Alright, I'll start ribbing you about it. So what kind of adventures have you been getting into?"

Zeke stepped forward before Alise could respond. "Where exactly is this ship headed for?"

"Hm? Why do you want to know?"

"It's guild business. We're looking to exchange our services as guards for a voyage to Heliord."

"Guild business? You mean you three are in a guild?"

"Yup," Zeke nodded.

"No!" Gordon stared at Zeke. "No, we're not. You didn't say anything about joining a guild, Zeke."

"I didn't? I meant to..."

Alise sighed, shaking her head. "One thing at a time, Zeke. And no, Terrence, we aren't in a guild. We do need to get to Heliord as soon as possible."

Terrence started to nod. "Hm. It's like you only ever look for me when you need a ride to somewhere, huh? Oh well. As it turns out we are looking for some security and our usual protection guild is unavailable. The ship's bound for Heliord as well, so I say you guys showed up at just the right time."

"S-seriously? You're kidding..." Gordon started to look nervous.

"Nope! The stars seem to be in your favor this time around. We've had one other person volunteer to help in case things get messy on board, so having four to help out should be perfect."

Alise thought for a moment. "It must be pretty urgent if you're still going with all of this rain."

"It is. This is a special shipment to Heliord's magistrate. The stuff is pretty valuable, but nothing should happen. I won't be going on the trip, but you all should go get ready and I'll tell the boss. I'll put in a good word for ya, Alise." With a supportive wink Terrence left.

Zeke looked pleased with himself. "Easy. Much quicker than I anticipated."

"I'd say it was too easy," Gordon groaned.

Alise could easily agree with Gordon, but she wasn't surprised. Terrence always knew how to come through when it mattered, however she wasn't sure it was worth it this time around. "We've got our way now. Let's just worry about making sure we have everything that we need."

* * *

The Fortune Market ship had been asea for only twenty minutes, and the storm had worsened drastically. Gordon had holed himself away in the bathroom, which worried Alise.

"Gordon, are you sure you're okay?" She knocked lightly on the door. "You've been in there a while..."

"No. I hate sailing, and now it's _storming._ I don't get sick, but I don't want to risk it. Don't mind me, just ignore me..."

Alise shruged. "Whatever you say..." She turned and looked around the small room the three of them were given. It had a couple places to sit, but none of them were comfortable enough for Alise. It seemed just fine for Zeke; he was sleeping precariously on a set of boxes. How he ever managed to sleep like that she'd never know.

And so Alise was pretty much by herself. She didn't want to sit, and she wasn't really tired at all despite not having much time to properly rest. Instead she leaned up against the wall with her arms crossed, thinking very little.

_There was supposed to be another person on board,_ she recalled randomly. _I wonder why there was only one other, though... Short notice, so only one person agreed? Or maybe some hired sword who also need to go to Tolbyccia. Terrence had said that the whatever they were transporting was valuable, but why only four guards? I don't want to jinx it, but-_

She didn't have to think another word. Suddenly the ship jerked, and Alise had to hold herself steady. She looked up to the ceiling, noting the thunks of hurried footsteps. _What's going on?_

Gordon peeked his head out the door, looking a little bit light headed. "You hear all of that?"

"I do." Alise walked swiftly to Zeke and pulled at his shoulder. "Yo, wake up."

Zeke stirred, shifted his position than went right back to sleep.

Alise groaned, looking from side to side. Tired with this, Alise easily yanked the boxes out from under him, and Zeke fell to the floor. After a moment of stillness, he looked groggily up at her. "What..? The hell did you..."

"C'mon," Alise grabbed Zeke and pulled him to his feet. "It's time we hold up our end of the bargain."


End file.
